


Rather Be Me

by KaRaEa, Zillabird



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU - Clones, F/F, F/M, M/M, warnings for scenes of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:42:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5468624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaRaEa/pseuds/KaRaEa, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zillabird/pseuds/Zillabird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam always knew they were special. So special they had to be kept away from the world until they'd done their part to save it. Raised behind guarded walls by nurses and guards, they were taught never to question what exactly it was about them that was so special, and why people would want to hurt them for it. Until the unthinkable happens. They're separated. Sam is taken by a woman claiming to be saving him. As they try to find their way back to each other they discover who and what they really are, and figure out a way that, just maybe, they really can save the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally for the Dean/Cas Big Bang, but due to some communication problems we missed the deadline.  
> Beta'd by the wonderful  
> Gorgeous art by

Sam lunged forward with each step, feet pushing off the pavement and making slapping sounds that echoed down the empty streets. He rounded the edge of the street and sprinted down into the next cul-de-sac, keeping to the edge of the street before taking off out of the cul-de-sac and back onto the main road. The first rays of sunshine lit up behind the identical brick houses, glinting off the windows. He ran past house after house, counting the sidewalks leading up to each front door. One…two….four….eight…. Each stretch of the road was ten houses and a cul-de-sac of three more in each corner of the community. Fifty two houses total. On his left the community turned into a small town. He darted past the back of the library. The clinic. Back into a cul-de-sac and then back out again.

He was rounding back onto the main street and moving quickly past the first two houses on the next main stretch of road when he heard her. He slowed at the sound of her screaming, begging someone to come help her. He moved into the yard of the first house, wet grass squeaking beneath his sneakers. The gate stretched up in front of him, a good three or four feet taller than even Sam was. The woman was lying in the grass and wailing, tears dripping down her cheeks and down her neck. She caught sight of Sam in the gap between the iron posts and relief washed over her features. “Oh, thank God. Please help me.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked. He and the others weren’t supposed to leave the community. There was no need, everything provided to them free of charge, but that was only an added reason for them to stay. There were dangers outside the gate, things that the guards posted on each corner and patrolling every inch between couldn’t protect them from if they ventured out of the safety of the community.

“I’m hurt,” she replied, sucking in a breath. Her light blonde hair clung to her cheeks and neck where the tears had dried at some point and the salt had bonded it to her skin. “Please. I need help. Please help me.”

Sam took a few steps back, running for the fence and then pushing off the ground hard. He caught the top of the fence and pulled, lifting himself to the top and then throwing his weight over the edge. He came down on the other side, sneakers squeaking again, and dropped into a crouch. He stood, carefully, and then hesitantly joined the woman, kneeling by her side. “What happened?”

“It’s my ankle,” she sobbed. “Please. I think I broke it.”

Sam moved down to her ankle, carefully lifting her foot slightly and then pulling the bottom of her pant leg up to her shin. Smooth, tan skin was the only sight he found and he frowned, picking up her other ankle instead. Nothing. Not even a bruise. “Are you sure you-“

Something sharp pricked the back of his neck and he spun on her, knocking the syringe out of her hand and onto the ground. It was empty, a bead of whatever she’d just dosed him with clinging to the tip. He grabbed his neck and stood, wobbling when a wave a dizziness assaulted him. “What did you just do?”

She was sitting up and no longer crying. If it weren’t for the wet tracks on her cheeks he might not have ever known she had been. She pulled herself to her feet slowly, watchful eyes on Sam’s face as he stumbled back another step. “It’s okay, Sam. Don’t fight it.”

“How do you know my name?” Sam asked, the words slurring. She appeared to have understood him though.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Sam. Just relax and give in. It will be easier that way,” she said.

Sam blinked and his eyelids felt heavy. He stumbled again, tripping over his own feet or something on the ground or maybe he didn’t even step back and he just dropped all at once. Whatever had happened, he was on the ground now and he felt his muscles slowly betraying him and relaxing before he dropped backwards. He managed to open his eyes and look up at her as she bent over to look and then he shut them again, sinking into the darkness.

\---

Dean hated being woken up by the sunlight streaming through the windows like a goddamn coffee commercial. He didn’t like being woken up by an alarm clock either or by Sam bitching at him that, “One in the afternoon is long enough Dean. Get your lazy ass out of bed before I drag you out.” Dean liked his sleep, liked sleeping as long as he could, and if the sun would just stop shining through his bedroom window then he could go back to sleeping.

Unsurprisingly, the sun did not go back down just because Dean wanted it to.

He pulled himself up onto his hands then swung his legs off the bed and stood. He yawned and stretched, feeling and hearing the pop of joints cracking with the motion and then ripped the curtains closed. It was too late for him to try and go back to sleep now that he was up but the defiance still made him feel better. Dean wasn’t much of a morning person.

Take a piss, shower, get dressed, brush teeth. Spend fifteen minutes trying to find his phone. They should really stop making those damned things smaller. Dean had no trouble losing them when they were as big as a brick and he had no trouble losing them now. Then it was down the stairs to start a pot of coffee that he would drink all by himself. He expected to find Sam in the living room, stretching or doing yoga or whatever it was that the kid did after he ran. All Dean knew was that it looked painful and no amount of sex, money, or booze would ever make him want to take part in it. But Sam wasn’t in the living room, ~~or~~ the kitchen, or the bathroom where Dean had figured he’d burst in on the snot nosed little shit and embarrass the hell out of him. Dean had a short attention span. He had to enjoy the small pleasures in life. “Sam?”

No answer. Well, more privacy for Dean then.

He started the coffee and waited until he heard it begin to percolate before walking over to the fridge. He pushed past the fruits and vegetables, beer bottles clinking as he shoved them to the side too, and reached to grab a carton of eggs in the back. The bacon was in the bottom drawer and the cheese was on the second shelf. He grabbed a pack of mushrooms – not really a vegetable, Sam, shut up – and an onion. Just for the flavor. He got to work on his omelet and almost felt bad for Sam but, hey, if the kid had wanted an omelet he should have been here to tell Dean what he wanted in it. Let the brat suffer eating lettuce and celery. Wasn’t Dean’s problem.

The bacon sizzled in the pan and Dean took the first moment to actually check his phone. No message from Sam. He was usually back by now. Dean shoved the worry back. His brother was a grown man, didn’t need Dean keeping an eye on his whereabouts twenty four seven like he had when they were children. If Sam still wasn’t back after his omelet, maybe then Dean would give him a call.

One omelet later- okay, two omelets. Dean was a big guy, he ate food. There was nothing to be ashamed of. Two omelets later and Dean was punching Sam’s number into his phone and holding the tiny thing up to his ear. It rang and rang and rang.And rang. Finally Sam’s voice broke over the line, “You’ve reached Sam Winchester. I’m too busy to come to the phone right now but if you leave your name, number, and a brief message I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. And if this is Dean…stop worrying.”

Dean scowled and waited for the beep. “It’s getting a little late for you to still be running. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t trip over your long, luscious locks while you were out. Give me a call back.”

He hung up the phone and slid it back into his pocket. Sam was right, he needed to stop worrying. Dean took his plates to the sink anddid the washing up, put away the unused ingredients, and then walked out of the kitchen. He checked his daily schedule on the computer. Latin in four hours. Taekwondo two hours after that. Tuesdays were always easy days. He shut the laptop and tried to figure out how he was going to kill four hours without Sam here.

Screw that. Dean was just going to go hunt the Sasquatch down.

He slid his boots on and walked out of the door. Doors weren’t locked in the community except after lights out. The library was on the other side of the town center so he started across the street. Nerds liked the library, right? Sam was a total nerd.

One library later and no Sam, Dean sprinted around the street trying to see if Sam had just gotten a late start to his run. Ava said she saw Sam running at his usual time which meant Sam had to be somewhere out and about in the community, Dean just had to find him.

“You’ve reached Sam Winchester. I’m too busy to come to the phone right now but if you leave your name, number, and a brief message I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. And if this is Dean…Stop worrying.”

“Damn it, Sam. Pick up your goddamn phone! If this is some kind of independence 'I need space' bullshit then just tell me. I don’t find it funny that I’ve got to track your ass down to make sure you’re okay,” Dean snapped. “I’m starting to worry. Yes. I’m sorry that bothers you. Call me. Now.”

He’d been looking for Sam for two hours by the time he found Bobby. The guard was a good friend, or as much of a friend the guards could be with the people living inside the community. When Sam and Dean had been younger, Bobby had helped them get over the loss of their caretaker, Mary, after the woman had died in an unfortunate fire in the nursery. Fast forward twenty plus years and Dean still went to Bobby with everything. Every thought, doubt, worry, complaint, and celebration – he shared everything with the cantankerous old fart. Sam too. “Bobby! Bobby, you got a moment?”

“Always got a moment for you, Dean, you know that,” Bobby said. He adjusted the trucker cap on his head and met Dean as the younger man ran towards him. Sharp eyes noted the worry creasing Dean’s face, the way he was out of breath from a morning of running. “Something wrong?”

“I dunno. It’s probably nothing but I can’t find Sam.” Dean started.

Bobby rolled his eyes. “I should have known.”

“Bobby-“

“Dean,” Bobby interrupted. “He’s twenty two years old. You aren’t protecting him from bullies anymore and you’re not getting rid of his nightmares. He’s fine. Probably found some pretty girl and got distracted.”

“Sam doesn’t get distracted by pretty girls,” Dean said. That was more his weakness after all.

“Maybe not, but there’s a first time for everything. The point is, Sam is fine. Doesn’t he run in the mornings?” Bobby asked. He said it casually, like it was a passing thought. Dean knew the guards all made it their business to know the routines of Dean, Sam, and the rest of the residents in the community. Sam ran in the mornings. Dean liked to chat with Lisa on and off. They knew who was at the café and when. Bobby said it was for their safety. Dean had always been a little wigged out at the thought.

“Yeah, but according to Ava he already did that and Sam didn’t come back after that. He ain’t answering his phone even though I’ve called him twice,” Dean said. He sighed and just went with honesty. “I know it’s not a lot to go on, Bobby, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If you could just…give a call to the other guards? Just let me know someone has eyes on him and he’s okay.”

Bobby sighed but relented, pulling the walkie talkie off his belt and lifting it up to his mouth. “Does anyone have eyes on zero-two?”

“Who?” a voice came over the line.

“Zero-two,” Bobby repeated.

“I don’t-“

“Samuel, Garth. Does anyone have eyes on Samuel?” Bobby growled.

“’Fraid not, Bobby,” Garth replied.

One by one the guards replied that they didn’t have eyes on the tall, muscular man. Bobby frowned, eyes flicking to Dean’s impatient expression. “And you haven’t heard from him?”

“No,” Dean said.

“Call him again,” Bobby said.

Dean sighed. “I tried that, Bobby.”

“Try it again,” the man barked.

Dean pulled his phone out again and dialedputting the phone on speaker. “You’ve reached Sam Winchester. I’m too busy to come to the phone right now but-“ Dean clicked it off.

“See?”

Bobby frowned deeper, clicking the walkie talkie again. “Lockdown the gates. Zero-two is missing. Comb the community until you find him.”

“You want to put a lockdown out for one missing resident?” A voice asked.

“I believe that’s what I just said,” Bobby said, irritated at being questioned. “Lock the gate. Get the residents in their homes. Find zero-two and report back.”

A brief pause and the speakers posted crackled to life. “Residents, return to your homes. Residents, return to your homes.”

Bobby gave a pointed look to Dean. “That includes you, Dean. Go home and let us find Sam. It’s probably nothing. But if he shows back up, you give me a call…you hear?”

“Will do,” Dean said. “Thank you, Bobby.”

Bobby was already turning and barking orders into his walkie talkie again.

Dean returned to his home, his phone buzzing twice. Once with a message from the community info desk notifying him that the community was in a lockdown and he was required to return to his home. The other message was from Lisa asking if he knew anything about what was going on.

He said he didn’t. No need to worry anyone if Sam was just distracted by some geek conversation. The warning for residents to return to their homes repeated over and over again outside Dean’s house. He sat in the recliner and waited for Sam.

An hour passed. Another. Finally the door opened and Dean shot to his feet. “Sam?”

“No, Dean,” Bobby said, pulling the door shut behind him. “Just me. I’m sorry.”

“Did you-“ Dean started.

Bobby shook his head. “The guards have combed the whole community. They tracked Sam’s phone but they found it lyingoutside the fence along with his ID and his tracker.”

Dean pressed lightly against his wrist, the bump of his own tracker just noticeable under his skin. “Someone cut out his tracker?”

“Or Sam did,” Bobby said. “But Sam doesn’t have any reason to be running. Not yet.”

“Yet?” Dean asked.

Bobby waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Whoever it was knew about the blind spot in the cameras. We have footage of Sam running and then walking towards the fence but after that? Nothing.”

“Bobby…what if something happened to him?” Dean asked. This was his little brother, the boy he’d spent his life looking out for. His snot nosed, bratty little bitch of a brother who ate like a rabbit and was smart as a whip.

Bobby sighed. “Don’t worry about something until there’s something to be worried about. He’s probably fine.”

“It’s Sam, Bobby! Don’t tell me not to worry about Sam,” Dean snapped. He ran a hand through his hair, turning away. “I know him better than anyone. I should help.”

“You can’t. It’s your job to stay here and stay safe,” Bobby said.

Dean spun to face him. “He’s my family. The only family I’ve got.”

Bobby looked at him carefully. “You’re not ready, Dean.”

“Ready for what?” Dean asked.

Bobby motioned towards the door. “You’re not ready for what’s out there.”

“What’s so wrong with the outside world?” Dean asked. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked the question, one of many times actually, though always with a different tone of voice; Curiosity, anger, frustration, fear. The outside world was foreign, weird, and dangerous. Dean had never been beyond the gates of the community.

Bobby’s eyes narrowed on him for a long time and silence sat between them. He reached into his pocket and pulled outa smallblack device which he attached to the wall. There was a button in the center and he pressed on it. A crackle from within the walls sounded before the lights dimmed and sputtered out, the TV turned off. Even Dean’s phone, in his hand, went dark. Then Bobby spoke, “I’ve grown to care for you boys. You and Sam, there were a lot of times that I got in trouble for how much I cared about the two of you because it’s useless. It’s useless to get attached to something that ain’t going to be there forever.”

Dean’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Bobby, I don’t understand-“

“They tell you people that you’re special, right? That you have to be kept safe from the world because you’re special,” Bobby said. “Some gibberish about having the right bodies or the right blood or the right antibodies. Gibberish. It’s just silly talk to keep you and the others where you’re at.”

Dean had always been told that the world needed something from his blood. Something that he and Sam and Ava and Lisa and all the other people in the community shared. He went into the clinic weekly, his blood was drawn. It made sense. And for this reason, he and the others were kept in the walls of the community with every wish granted and every desire sated. Dean had accepted that…but apparently, it was not the truth. “Why do they keep us here then?”

“Over a century ago, someone rich and ambitious decided they wanted to live forever. And rich and ambitious people can do a lot of stuff like that because they have money and greed. A group of scientists were paid a lot of money to figure out a solution and they did,” Bobby said. “Cloning.”

“Cloning?” Dean asked.

“It’s the process of replicating cells,” Bobby said. “These scientists could take a person and make a new'n to be an exact replica of the original. A replacement. But the matter was, how did you get the original mind, personality...whatever, how did you get that into new body? Well, money and science managed to figure that out too.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Dean asked.

“Go upstairs, start packing. Only grab what you need,” Bobby said. “Clothes. Shoes. Enough for a week.”

“Bobby-“

“Now, Dean!” Bobby shouted.

Dean hesitated and then took off for the stairs with Bobby’s heavy footsteps following behind him. He ripped open his closet and grabbed a gym bag from the shelf before starting to shove clothes into it. “What does that have to do with us, Bobby?”

“Clones can’t just be replicated all at once. It has to grow up, fully mature. You have to start with a baby and let it mature into an adult. Not that any of those rich asshats would want to inhabit a child but even the law system isn’t that cruel. They have to wait. Twenty eight years. Don’t know where they pulled that number from and to be honest, I don’t care, but twenty eight is the magic number,” Bobby said. He gave Dean a look. “Nobody over twenty seven in the whole community, ‘cept for the guards and the workers.”

Dean thought about that. At twenty six, Dean was already one of the older members of the community. Most of the people were Sam’s age or thereabouts. And the kids in the nursery, of course. “We’re…what? You’re telling me we’re clones?”

“Carbon copies of the rich and famous,” Bobby said. He probably didn’t intend for it to be as harsh as it came out but Dean still reeled at the thought. “I’m sorry, Dean. If I had more time to explain to you…”

“What happened to Sam?” Dean asked, shaking off this new revelation. There would be time for him to panic later, time for him to debate the meaning of life over a bottle in the future if he so desired (and could convince another resident to give him their weekly allowance of the poison). For now his focus was Sammy and finding him and bringing him home. “Who took him?”

“Clones are only for the rich, Dean. Keep packing. There are a lot of people that just can’t afford that. But immortality, that’s something not just rich people want. Poor people are sick and dying. They want a second chance. And here you all are, just penned up and clueless the whole lot of you. Lure one out and pull him away…got a clone all ready to be sold and imprinted. Boy like your brother be worth thousands. Millions.” Bobby grabbed Dean’s stuff and helped him put it in the bag when Dean faltered slightly, trying to take it all in.

“Sam is going to be sold?” Dean asked.

“And replaced with someone else. His personality, his mind, the inside stuff that makes your brother who he is – that’s all going to be pulled out and replaced with someone else,” Bobby said. “So we have to stop them.”

“Of course we have to stop them!” Dean exclaimed. He went back to packing his bag. “How?”

“I was going to sneak the two of you out. Watched a lot of good folks leave this compound, watched ‘em go and then saw them gracing the TV screens, another rich ass monster wearing them like a new suit. But you were my boys. You were _my_ boys and I couldn’t see that happen to you so I joined the resistance and I stayed undercover and they were going to get you and Sam out before you turned twenty eight,” Bobby said. He grabbed Dean by the shoulder and made him look him in the face. “Dean, you listen to me and you listen good. I was never going to let that happen to you or Sam. Never.”

“I know, Bobby,” Dean said quietly.

“I couldn’t do that to the two of you,” Bobby said. He let go of Dean’s shoulder and motioned to the bathroom. “Toothbrush.”

Dean walked into the bathroom and grabbed it. Sam’s too. “Who took Sam?”

“Only certain people can be imprinted, see? When they create you, they change something about the way you work so that they can sap the _you_ out and put in someone else. When they tried it before they usually just ended up with two people in the same head. Makes people sick. So if you’re going to imprint somebody, you’ve got to imprint on a clone. Communities like this? That’s where you get them. There’s a huge market for people who imprint on clones that aren’t theirs, way more demand than supply but there are people who specialize in catering to that market,” Bobby said. “Sam was probably taken by one of them.”

Dean swallowed hard. “I have to get him back.”

Bobby paused in the doorway. “Why do you think I’m having you pack?” Dean followed him back down the stairs. “I’m going to send you to a woman named Ellen, one of the people who was gonna help me get you out to begin with. She’s going to help you find Sam.”

“Thank you, Bobby,” Dean said, relief flooding his tone.

“You just find your brother and Ellen will tell me when the two of you are safe,” Bobby said. He opened his wallet and pulled out the cash there. “You take this. Gonna need it more than me, anyhow. And give me your phone. They can track you using that.”

Dean handed him the phone and then rubbed his thumb over the tracker in his wrist. “You’re going to have to cut this out, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be a baby,” Bobby said.

“I’m not a baby. You’re going to cut something out of my wrist!” Dean snapped.

Bobby pulled a knife out of his back pocket and held out his hand for Dean’s arm. “Be like a paper cut.”

Dean reluctantly held out his arm, mumbling, “Difference between paper and a knife.”

Bobby makes quick work of it, rolling his eyes when Dean curses in pain. He hands Dean a towel to put against his wrist. “You’ll survive.” He dropped the tracker on the couch.

“Now what?” Dean asked, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrist.

“Now you run,” Bobby said. “You run and you don’t look back. Get Sam and then get as far away from here as possible. If Michael and Lucifer get ahold of you, you’ll be imprinted.”

“Michael and Lucifer?” Dean asked.

“Your originals. The people you were cloned for,” Bobby said. He gave him a map of the compound and his car keys, tracing a path out with his finger. “This is how you avoid the cameras. You get to the cars, take the black Impala. She’s an old thing but she’s a beauty, okay? And she’ll run like a dream. Just take the car and go to this location.” He wrote an address on the bottom corner of the map. “There’s a cell phone in the glove box, I’m the only one with the number. Call me when you get there.”

“What about you?” Dean asked.

Bobby shook his head. “I have to stay here. Someone’s gotta point them in all the wrong directions.”

Dean frowned. “Is that safe?”

“It’s necessary,” Bobby said. It wasn’t an answer. “Don’t worry about me, idjit. Worry about you and Sam. Are we clear?”

Dean hesitated. Bobby was right, Sam came first. “We’re clear.”

Bobby hesitated, standing still for the first time since he’d come. No more news, no more revelations, no more orders. He clapped a hand to Dean’s cheek and smiled at him. “I never had any children of my own. Karen and I, well, it just never worked out for the two of us. But if I’d had ‘em, I imagine they would have been a lot like the two of you. You always made me proud, Dean. You and Sam both. You go get him.”

“I will, Bobby,” Dean said.

Bobby nodded once and dropped his hand.  He went over to the wall and hit the device’s button again. The lights came back on and the TV flickered to life. He pocketed the device. “Now I need you to hit me. I know all about those martial arts classes you been taken so I know you can give it good. Once right across the jaw, knock me out. Don’t want you to have to hit me again.”

“I’m not going to hit you,” Dean said.

“Boy, they have to think you escaped. Not going to be very convincing that you got all this stuff off me without a fight,” Bobby said. He tapped his own cheek. “Right here.”

“Bobby-“ Dean was cut off when Bobby punched him in the jaw. His head snapped up. “What was that for?”

“Hit me!” Bobby exclaimed.

Dean finally hauled back and caught him in the cheek. Bobby stood for a moment, looking a little surprised, and then dropped to the floor unconscious. Dean grimaced and then grabbed his bag and took off out of the house, ready to follow Bobby’s rules to get back to Sam. He shut the door behind him and took a deep breath before walking away.

Dean had never left the community. Looked like that was going to change.

\---

One whole side of the community was walled in by a tall metal building with no name on the front or sides. It had few windows, fewer doors, and inside were various labs and other rooms of varying size and purpose. The biggest lab was towards the center of the building, with one door in and out and a key code required to enter. Inside the walls of the laboratory, Anna Milton worked over a microscope. Surrounded by bubbling liquids in vials and advanced technology like something out of a science fiction movie, she could have been compared to a mad scientist. Except that mad scientists were typically ugly, deranged, and male and Anna Milton was most definitely a woman, far from ugly, and had a look of calm sanity in her eyes. She brushed a few strands of red hair out of her face that had slipped out of her ponytail and looked up when the door opened and a young man walked in. Kevin carried several boxes which he set on a spare table. “Supplies you asked for.”

“They could have had someone else carry them,” Anna said.

Kevin shrugged. “I’ve got be good for something around here.”

Anna scoffed lightly and stood, walking away from the microscope to go through the boxes. As if Kevin wasn’t an absolutely integral part of the process. As if Anna had not come to rely on her assistant and student more and more each day. “All accounted for.”

“Was there really ever any doubt?” Kevin asked.

Anna smiled lightly. “Probably not.”

Kevin took a seat by the computer, pulling up his game of solitaire on the screen and nudging a coffee mug stuffed with trash away from the keyboard. “How’s the work going?”

“It’s going. Not the most interesting,” Anna said. “But I-“

The door opened again and the two turned as an auburn haired woman, this one more severe and restrained, stepped in wearing a sharp suit. Her eyes roamed over the lab before settling on Anna’s surprised face. “Dr. Milton.”

“Naomi,” Anna replied. She stood. “What are you doing in my lab?”

“My job,” Naomi replied. “There’s been a problem.”

“What sort of problem?” she asked.

“One of the residents was taken from the community,” Naomi said. “Zero-two.”

“Lucifer’s clone?” Anna asked.

“Yes,” Naomi confirmed, “We’re going to tighten the security around zero-three just in case this is an attack on the family or by Lucifer himself. More than likely this was a crime of opportunity, but we can’t take any risks.”

“Of course not,” Anna said carefully. “What about zero-one? Michael’s mature clone would be the most likely next target if this was a deliberate attack.”

“We’re going to imprint zero-one as soon as possible. Michael doesn’t want to risk losing his clone so close to the time,” Naomi said.

Anna frowned severely. “Zero-one still has two years before the minimum age of imprinting.”

“Administration is dealing with that. It appears as if there’s been a mistake and his papers were marked incorrectly. He turned twenty-eight this January,” Naomi said, the words laced with the implication. Legality meant nothing if Michael wanted his clone now.

Anna shook her head. “No. Zero-one is not of legal age to be imprinted on. The state will never allow it. Mr. Edlund wouldn't go that far.”

“Your concerns are noted. Prepare to imprint zero-one immediately. Mr Edlund will be here within-” Naomi’s phone went off. She answered it with a curt, “Speak.”

There was a pause where both Anna and Kevin remained silent, knowing better than to interrupt this phone call. Especially when whoever on the other end said something that made Naomi’s eyes darken dangerously. “Then where did he go?”

More silence. “Send someone to find him immediately.”

She hung up the phone and returned it to her pocket. “Zero-one has disappeared. He will be imprinted on immediately following his return. I will hear no more argument on the subject.”

She turned on her heel and stalked away. Anna scowled, hand tightening around a piece of paper in her hand and wrinkling it viciously. “God, she's such a- a-” she stuttered, “such a-”

“Naomi?” Kevin offered with a wry smile.

“Naomi,” Anna affirmed. “Zero-one is not ready for imprinting.”

“He’s physically matured…” Kevin trailed off.

“It’s too soon!” Anna said. “If all they get is twenty eight years of their own lives then the very least we can do is give them the full twenty eight years.”

Kevin lowered his voice, his eyes flicking to the door. “Anna, don’t talk like that.”

“Have you ever seen someone be imprinted, Kevin?” she asked quietly, after a moment.

Kevin hesitated and shook his head. “I deal with programming, that’s it.”

“I have. One time,” Anna said. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to picture it, a small distressed wrinkle forming between her brows. “It's awful. It's not a miracle, it's- Theft. Murder. Rape. Some combination of the three.”

“Anna...” Kevin trailed off. “Anna, you gotta stop talking like this.”

Anna shook her head irritably. “There are no cameras in here. They never bothered to replace the one that fried when we magnetized the lab that time.”

Kevin took it on faith but still shifted nervously.

Anna stared blankly at her work. “I used to be really proud of this job. Spent a lot of years hard at work getting my degree, worked to be at the top of my class. I wanted this job because this was cutting edge science. This was the best. And here I am, right? I did it. I make clones, Kevin. I create new life. I’m a god. They like to tell you that.”

Kevin seemed a little confused and a lot surprised but he nodded, prompting her to continue.

“Naomi, she’s beautiful and confident and brilliant. I admired her. She was the kind of woman I wanted to be. The kind of woman that I wanted to be with,” Anna said. A blush colored her cheeks as she looked up at Kevin. “I guess that’s pretty ridiculous but I was enamored with her then. Thought the world of her.”

“But?” Kevin asked.

“But one day the imprinter couldn’t make it. Sick, maybe? I don’t know. Naomi is trained to handle that so she took care of the imprinting for the day. I was always making excuses to talk to her and I walked in on her imprinting one of them. Samandriel’s clone. We called him two-four but his name was Alfie,” Anna said. Her fingers bunched at her side as she spoke his name. Alfie. “And I watched as they sucked Alfie out and replaced him with Samandriel. He was so scared, Kevin. He was terrified of being destroyed like that. Of being replaced.”

“Anna…” Kevin trailed off.

She looked up, eyes glowing with a combination of unshed tears and anger. “I don’t know whether there is an afterlife but that boy deserved better than what he got. He deserved to live a full life. He deserved a future.” She paused. “I don’t want to keep creating life just for it to be sucked out and replaced by something else, something greedy.”

Kevin was quiet and Anna took that as a sign to continue. “I joined the resistance.”

“You what?” Kevin practically shouted the question. He repeated it, quieter, “You what?”

“I joined the unethical tech resistance,” Anna repeated. “I’ve been in contact with a hacker, feeding them information. She’s good. I trust her.”

“Is that safe?” Kevin asked.

“Probably not,” Anna admitted. “But if it makes up for my mistakes, I don’t care if it’s safe.”

Kevin stood, ran a hand through his hair. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I have to leave,” Anna said. “Because I have to take something to be analyzed somewhere they can’t be watching and I need you to cover for me.”

“Me?” Kevin almost squeaked the question.

“Just for a couple of hours,” Anna said. “I’m on the verge of a breakthrough, a way to fix the clones so they can’t be imprinted but I need to meet with my hacker to figure it out. Can you cover for me?”

Kevin’s eyes bugged wide. He looked at her carefully. “What would have happened if I’d sold you out?”

“You wouldn’t,” Anna said.

“How do you know?” Kevin asked.

Anna smiled sadly. “Because when I told you, you asked if it was safe. Because you joined me wanting to create new life, not destroy it for the old. Because you agree with me.”

“This is some pretty big stuff,” Kevin said.

“Will you do it?” Anna asked.

He nodded. “I’ll cover for you.”

“I had a lot of applicants for your position, Kevin. Thousands and thousands of applications. But I knew from day one you’d be the perfect choice,” Anna said. “Thank you.”

“Just hurry up and get back. Naomi terrifies the shit out of me,” Kevin replied, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

Anna’s eyes darkened. “She should.”

\---

Hot water splashed against Castiel’s body, beating a wet rhythm against his bare skin as he showered. It was a few degrees short of scalding, still hot enough to turn his skin pink with contact. Each droplet would bead over tight muscle and then slowly trail a path down his legs to the shower floor before draining out into the pipes below. Castiel loved the peace and quiet that came with showering. The privacy of being alone with nothing but the comfort of warm water. It was peaceful. Tranquil. Calm.

He physically tensed when that peace and quiet was interrupted by the blaring of his ringtone. With a frustrated sigh, he turned off the water and opened the shower door to step out onto the tiled floor. They were cool beneath his feet, goose bumps breaking out over his skin at the sudden change from hot water to cool air. He grabbed a white towel from the rod hanging on the wall, wrapping it around his waist and holding it at his hip. With his free hand, he picked up the phone and answered. “Hello?”

“Zero-one has left the compound. Your job is to retrieve him and bring him back for immediate imprinting. All relevant information will be sent to your phone. You may request any paper copies of the information by calling this number. Understood?” the voice asked.

“Understood,” Castiel replied and then dryly asked. “Can I finish my shower first?”

“Retrieve the clone as soon as possible, Novak,” the voice said sharply before hanging up the phone.

Castiel looked longingly back at the shower before removing the towel from around his waist and beginning to dry off with it. “I guess that’s a no.”

\---

Sam opened his eyes, blinking once or twice. The pattern on the ceiling was one left by a poor paint job. He could actually make out a bristle from the brush they’d used to paint it. Feeling came back to his body slowly until he was able to sit up. He looked around the room. There were two beds, one of which he was laying in, and a TV resting on dresser. A table shoved in the corner with one chair. A mini fridge. A closet. A door that Sam assumed led to a bathroom. He swung his legs off the bed but didn’t move to stand.

A metal grinding came from the door, the sound of a key being shoved in a lock, and then the door opened. A woman stood in the doorway, the sun making it so that Sam could only make out her silhouette. She stopped, perhaps surprised to find him awake. “Hello, Sam.”


	2. Chapter 2

Dean pressed his foot further down on the accelerator, carefully breathing in through his nose. He'd never seen this much open space before. It made him feel small. It made him feel lost and young and so very, very stupid.

Bobby's voice rang in his head, the words indistinct but the memory of urgency and betrayal so strong it made his temples throb. He glanced at the map and the road sign ahead. He could do this. It wasn't that far.

The car radio threw out static after about five more miles, the community radio unable to reach this far out. Dean jumped and pulled to the side of the road, dry heaving a few times and trying desperately to control his breathing.

He got out and leaned forward to rest his head on the roof of the car. Forcing Bobby from his mind he called Sam's cell, just to hear that familiar voice talk to him as though everything was normal.

"...And if this is Dean... Stop worrying."

A small grin cracked Dean's face. "Never," He said into the silence after the beep, before hanging up and taking a deep breath. He rolled his head, pressed his fingers hard into his hunched shoulders and forced his hands open. He had a brother to track down.

\---

A little under an hour later and he pulled into and unremarkable looking trucker's bar. The turn off sign was battered but still clear, reading 'The Roadhouse' in what was probably once shiny red paint, now faded to the color of brick dust and peeling in places.

The place was half full, which surprised him for some reason. He'd half expected the place to be empty, not ringing with men's laughter and the occasional whoop or holler as some sports game played out on the ancient box shaped TV on the wall opposite the bar.

"What can I getcha?" A cheery blonde asked as he sat at the bar.

"I, um, I'm here to talk to Ellen?" Dean replied hesitantly.

The blonde's smile turned more sympathetic. "Then you'll definitely be needing a drink. What's your poison?"

Dean thought about how quickly he wanted to be back on the road looking for Sam. "Beer."

The blonde nodded, "Coming right up. Hope you like it luke warm. I'll let Ellen know you're here."

Dean gave a grateful nod and turned to look around the room.

The patrons were overwhelmingly male, and the few women dotted around still had arms thicker than his thigh. Something told him this wasn't just a trucker's rest stop.

He noticed several of them watching him, some wary, some curious, some with a weirdly greedy look in their eye. He stamped down his shudder and turned back to the bar as the blonde came back, pushing a brown bottle towards him over the bar.

“She's just talking to a couple of regulars, she'll be over in a minute,” The blonde informed him. “So, you're one of Bobby's kids?”

Dean hesitated a moment before shrugging.

“Must be weird, being out here,” She grabbed a packet of peanuts from behind the bar and tossed it to him. “Here, if you think you can keep them down. You look like you could use some food and that's the best we got for the moment.”

“Thanks,” Dean carefully avoided looking at the expiry date and opened the packet, tossing a few nuts into his mouth and not bothering to wait until he'd swallowed before he spoke again. “Name's Dean, by the way.”

“Jo,” she offered, “And your brother's Sam, right?”

Dean nodded, “Yeah. I guess you already know why I'm here then?”

Jo leaned over the bar a little. “Bobby called on ahead. It's one hell of a messed up situation you're in, but if we can help, we will.”

“Thanks,” Dean said, and tried to mean it. He didn't like relying on people, a character quirk that had become a lot stronger since finding out that everything he thought he knew about himself and his brother was a lie. If they were clones then were they even brothers?

Half a bottle of beer later, an older woman approached from the serving side of the bar. Jo had since left to attend to customers, but Dean could tell easily enough that this was Ellen. She'd zeroed in on him and hadn't looked away since.

“You Dean?” Ellen asked, though she must have already known.

“That's me,” Dean confirmed, wondering idly if it was always like this in the outside world. The community was small enough that he hadn't had to really introduce himself in about six years, since that last guard had been hired.

“Ellen,” She held out her hand to shake and Dean obliged. She met his eye. “Bobby said Sam was a good kid, never broke a rule, but I gotta ask. Is there any chance he left on his own?”

“Sam _is_ a good kid, goody fuckin' two shoes. No way he'd leave,” Dean answered a little roughly. He corrected his statement to ' _no way he'd leave without me'_ in his head and forcibly calmed himself down. “Sam was taken. That's the only way this could have gone down.”

Ellen was silent for a moment, just staring at him. “Well alright then, let’s track us down some black market clone traders. Come on, there's someone you gotta meet first.”

Dean swallowed back his impatience and followed her back into a storage room. Around a corner of crates sat a skinny guy with a mullet and torn off sleeves, and a deceptively ancient looking computer.

“This him?” Mullet guy asked.

“Yeah, you got anything yet?” Ellen replied.

“Not yet. It's not any of Bela's guys far as I can tell,” Mullet guy scratched his face and gave the computer a thoughtful look. “Probably Crowley's. He's good at covering his tracks, but I should pick something up soon. Might be they just haven't advertised yet.”

Ellen nodded and turned back to Dean. “Dean, this is Ash. He may not look like much but him and his computer are the best shot we got at finding a lead.”

“Love the hair,” Dean said by way of hello.

Ash grinned. “A man of taste.”

“So, uh, what are you doing to help my brother?” Dean asked.

Ash gave a long breath out. “Tracking down activity in the black market, mostly. It's rare that anyone gets their hands on a genuine clone, you guys are locked up pretty tight. But the few times it's ever happened have been one of two groups, headed up by mooks called Bela and Crowley. Both pride themselves on giving the customer stuff they couldn't get elsewhere,” Ash gestured behind himself to the computer, “Been using that beautiful hunk of junk over there to monitor emails and search listings online mostly. They won't say outright what it is, of course, but whoever's got him is gonna be wanting to get the news out to as many people as possible, get the bidding up.”

Dean blinked a few times. In the end all he could think of to say was, “Isn't monitoring emails illegal?”

Ash shrugged, “So's harboring a runaway clone. We do what we gotta. 'Sides, we all know emails get monitored by good ol' Uncle Sam, and anyone who pretends otherwise is just deluding themselves. I'm just using those powers for good.”

“Ash used to work for a branch of the C.I.A,” Ellen explained, “Until they caught him leaking sensitive information. Only reason he's still alive is that he's smart enough to hold some back to hang over them.”

Dean took a moment to let that sink in. The man in front of him definitely did not resemble Jason Bourne or any of the other super spies, he barely looked strong enough to hold a gun up. He looked more suited to getting drunk in a backwater bar.

Ash grinned, “See, I know what you're thinking. I don't look like a suit. But back in the day I could pull a good dress up.” Ash rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a slightly scuffed I.D card. The picture on front showed a much more sober looking Ash in a white coat, with a much more Men in Black haircut. The name on the badge was scratched out.

Dean swallowed. “So how'd you get into this game?”

“The info I leaked? That was about cloning. Out here in the real world the whole thing was a little bit mysterious. No one really knew how it works or how clones are made. All they knew was that rich people got clones and transplanted their brain into them whenever they got close to dying. When I found out what was really going on I showed as much of it to the world as possible,” Ash explained. “Unfortunately people weren't as smart as I thought. All that changed was that people started trying to use other people as clones. Doesn't work, the imprinting is screwy and the brain of the poor shmoe they're trying to imprint on gets scrambled, not erased. Not that that always stops them. So I left, tried to undo some of that damage as well as getting some of you guys out into the world. This is America, land of the free, Baby. Everybody should be able to join the party.”

“And how's that working out for you?” Dean had to ask. He needed to know if this guy could really help him or not.

Ash shrugged. “Slow going but worth it. Don't you worry though, it's getting clones out that's the real hard part. Finding one that's already the other side of the gates can still be a challenge but it's hell of a lot easier.”

“That's... Reassuring,” Dean tried. “So, this Crowley guy. How do I find him?”

Ellen and Ash exchanged a look.

Ellen folded her arms, “You don't. We do. You want to go after him, fine. It's your brother, I can understand that. But you don't know enough to find him on your own, even if we gave you directions. We're going to be sending you with backup.”

\---

Two hours after waking up, Sam was terrified, confused, hungry and extremely annoyed.

Ruby just would not shut up, pointing out landmarks as they drove past, loudly singing along to the radio, asking him what it was like to live cooped up in a walled compound your whole life. She swore a lot.

Sam did his best to ignore her, though he filed away some of the landmarks in case he ever got the chance to retrace his steps back home.

They'd got into the car not long after he'd woken up, Ruby not shy about manhandling and threatening him into the back seat. She was freakishly strong for such a tiny woman and seemed to have no fear of him attracting unwanted attention as they drove around. She let him sit upright, though his arms were tied and bound to the neck rest of the passenger seat. She didn't gag or drug him, even when they stopped for gas at a pokey station forty minutes into the drive. Unfortunately no one was around to hear his calls for help.

Eventually he gave in. There was only so long you could be forced to listen to someone talk at you before you needed to talk back.

They were driving along a smooth road, far away from the lights he could see twinkling to his left, far away from anything much. Ruby asked if he ever really got alone time in the community or if this was the first time he was far enough from people that they couldn't hear him shout.

Sam didn't wait for her to finish her long and swear filled sentence before interrupting. “Why do you care?”

“And he speaks! I was starting to think I might have fucked up your brain somehow when I took you,” Ruby responded immediately, previous topic abandoned.

“You kidnapped me, tied me up in your car and won't tell me where we're going, but you're acting like we're on a road trip or something,” Sam complained. “You haven't shut up the entire time! What the hell is going on here?”

Ruby made a 'pffft' sound and turned to face him, completely ignoring the road which thankfully remained straight and clear. “I didn't kidnap you, dummy. I rescued you. That shithole you call home sweet home was practically a prison. You ever wonder why there are so many guards?”

“To keep people like you out!” Sam snapped.

Ruby finally turned back to the road. “To keep you in. There's plenty of security to keep 'people like me' out, but even more to keep you in. Did you ever even try to leave? Or were you too much of a goody-goody?”

Sam shifted and tried to avoid thinking about the time when he was twelve and Dean tried to sneak them both out to watch the stars away from the light pollution of the community. Bobby had found them in minutes, they hadn't even got five minutes past the fence. He'd given them hell for that one, called them idjits and slapped Dean round the back of the head for trying something as dangerous and stupid as that. Sam had never quite understood why it was so dangerous to go just a little way out.

“Don't think so hard, you'll break something,” Ruby snorted when he'd been silent for more than a few minutes. “Seriously, aren't you the least bit curious about why they locked you up? Or what the world is like out here?”

“We're special, biologically superior. We can save lives,” Sam near quoted from memory. “They need us.”

“Yeah, need you to stay nice and healthy ready for harvest,” Ruby rebutted. “You aren't superior, you're genetically modified to fulfil a purpose. Custom bodies for the rich.” Ruby glanced back at him. “Lucifer obviously asked for extra height with you.”

“That...” Sam's voice trailed off without his permission and he cleared his throat to try again. “That makes no sense.”

“Really?” Ruby asked, voice going syrupy sweet. “No sense at all? Wow, I must have got it wrong then. Not like people randomly disappear after their twenty-eighth birthday, or that everyone really freaks out over any scars or blemishes, or that no one ever really told you just what was so fucking special about your 'superior' genetics. No, I'm sure everything was just fine. I just made this shit up to mess with you.”

“The gene isn't as prominent at twenty-eight. They relocate us out here so we can live normal lives,” Sam responded, not having an answer for the other points. Everything she'd said rung disturbingly true.

“Relocate you where exactly? And what happens after that? You ever got a letter from your thirty year old friends telling you all about the good life? No,” Ruby argued, “And you know why? Because your friends don't exist anymore. There's some rich bastards walking around using their bodies like custom tailored suits while their brains have been wiped of everything that made them _them_. And you were up next Sammy. Another couple years and that pretty head of yours would be home to a one-percenter who'd probably chop off that awesome hair and use your built-to-purpose monster dick to screw his secretary.”

Sam clenched his jaw and glared.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at him in the rear view mirror.

“Let’s say I believe you over the people who raised me and protected me my whole life, why the hell are you here? Why rescue me? What do you get out of it?” He asked after a moment of angry silence.

“Too hard to believe I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart?” Ruby asked, mock offended. Then she grinned. “I'm not that bad but I gotta admit, I am getting something from it all. I was hired to get you out.”

“By who?”

“The rich bastard whose clone youare. He's not in the clone business anymore, didn't want you being used by anybody. He feels responsible for you,” Ruby explained. “He's not the only one who had a change of heart about cloning once the world found out the truth about you guys, but he is the only one that managed to stay rich. He hires me from time to time to sabotage the business; rescue a clone here, blow up a lab there. When he found out there was a new buyer for your gorgeous body he sent me to get you out.”

Sam blinked at the information overload. “So you do this... regularly?”

Ruby shrugged. “Usually more of the blowing up, less of the rescuing. But yeah. I'm not exactly fond of the industry myself.” She glanced back at him in the mirror, “Hey, you want something to eat?”

Sam hesitated before nodding.

Ruby pulled over and leaned into the passenger seat, digging around in a plastic bag from the gas station. There was a gap between the driver and passenger seats, wide enough for a person to crawl through. Presuming they weren’t as colossal as the younger Winchester. Still, there was room enough that if Sam had his arms free he would have been able to grab Ruby, wrestle her into the back and have a shot at getting away.

He pulled uselessly at his bound wrists a couple of times before glancing down at his legs. With a move that pulled his right shoulder painfully and threatened to split the skin on his wrists around the plastic ties, he pulled his legs up into the gap, sliding them either side of Ruby’s neck. One of her arms was caught but she barely had the chance to squeak out a ‘what the hell’ before he scissored his legs together to choke her. She struggled but from her angle and trapped in the small space in the front of the car she couldn’t get the leverage to escape. He held her there a few seconds after she went limp, then slid his legs back through, relieving the tension on his wrists. He chewed at the ties, a much more difficult task than he’d envisioned it being, trying to break them or weaken the plastic enough to snap them. He kept an eye on Ruby the whole time, paranoid about her waking.

After a full minute, getting him nothing but jaw ache and damp plastic, Sam slumped to catch his breath. Ruby still hadn’t woken, but at this point he was on borrowed time and he knew it. He cursed and looked around desperately for something to break the plastic with. He looked at the unconscious blonde again and steeled himself, starting at the plastic with his teeth again.

At last, the ties broke and Sam pulled himself free, scrambling from the car. He stumbled up the road, looking for somewhere to hide or a clear direction to head in. Nothing in sight but empty skies and empty road, the surrounding land flat and unremarkable. He headed back to the car, picking Ruby up out of the front seat and dumping her in the back, digging through the glove compartment for some more of the ties she used on him. She was coming to as he bound her hands to the neck rest as she had done to him.

“What the hell?” She muttered petulantly, “Not cool Sammy, I was gonna share my candy stash with you!”

Sam just looked at her like the crazy person she was and strapped himself into the driver’s seat. He had no idea how to get back to the community but turning the car around seemed like a good start.

“Seriously, I told you what they’ll do to you back there. You’re better off coming with me. You can even ride shotgun if you promise not to strangle me again,” Ruby continued.

Sam ignored her and kept driving.

“Can I at least have some candy?” Ruby asked a few moments later.

“No,” Sam answered shortly.

Sam felt something cold and sharp against his neck and froze, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“See, first thing to learn about tying people up is to make it nice and tight so they can’t get free. Don’t worry too much about making them comfortable, it’s better if they get poor circulation than it is if they get free. Pull over,” Ruby ordered. As he complied she continued. “Second thing is to search them before you leave them to their own devices. Sometimes people carry pocket knives.”

Sam swallowed and kept his eyes on her in the mirror.

“Don’t feel too bad though, you did pretty damn well for your first time,” Ruby gestured for him to get out of the car. She followed close behind. “Now, here’s where you have a choice. You can either get in the trunk and stay there until we get where we’re going, or I can tie you up in the back again, feet too this time.”

“Why take the risk? You know I’ll get out again,” Sam asked warily.

Ruby shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. But if you’re in the trunk I can’t get you to understand why we’re doing this. It really is in your best interest, Sam.”

“Yeah, you already told me the story, remember?” Sam rolled his eyes.

Ruby opened the back door and nodded him towards the car. “But you don’t believe it.”

Sam made to get in the car but turned and punched Ruby across the face at the last second, running off the road and back the way they’d come.

“Motherfucker!” Ruby cursed before her footsteps sounded behind him. “Sam, don’t be an idiot, we’re in the middle of nowhere. You’ll die from exposure before you ever get anywhere.”

Sam kept going, keeping up his speed as long as possible and hoping it would be enough to put Ruby well behind him. He didn’t stop until his lungs were burning and the road was far to his right. No way Ruby could drag him back to it. She may be strong but he was double her size.

About two minutes later Ruby caught up, clearly out of breath and swearing in between wheezes. “Alright, fine. You win.”

Sam watched her warily without replying.

“You don’t want to go, fine, I’ll take you back to your death camp. But how about we make a phone call first, huh?” Ruby said once she was able to stand upright.

“I’m not stupid, I’m not letting you call for back up,” Sam retorted.

Ruby shook her head, “I wouldn’t expect you to. You’re going to make the call. Have a nice video chat with an old pal.”

“What?” Sam asked, confused and still wary. “Who?”

“You remember Victor? He was your neighbor for a few years,” Ruby prompted, “Until he had a very special birthday.”

Sam’s breath caught. “You have Victor’s number?” He clenched his fists, “You can’t threaten him, he’s protected. I won’t be blackmailed.”

Ruby laughed. “You mean like you were protected?” She paused long enough for Sam think it over. “But no, I’m not threatening Victor. I don’t even have Victor’s number. I have Eremiel’s number.”

“Who’s Eremiel?” Sam wrinkled his brow.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “Guess.”

Sam froze in place and stopped breathing for a moment. “Are you saying…?”

“Yes, Sam. I am saying the exact thing I’ve been saying this whole time. People don’t leave the compound. Their bodies do,” She tilted her head to catch his gaze when he looked away to hide his reddening eyes. “Hey, I know it’s bad. It’s really bad. I’m not going to say there’s anything that makes it better, none of that ‘better place’ crap. Victor didn’t die, he got erased. There’s no soul to put a halo on. But this is why I got you out, this is why I don’t want to take you back.”

Sam lifted his chin up and forced the tears back. “Call him.”

Ruby nodded and dug out her phone. She tapped at the screen a few moments and handed it over. Sam tried not to wonder why she was so confident he wouldn’t take it and run, call for help. She knew she had him now.

The screen was lit up with the name Eremiel across the bottom, the dialing tone ringing loud and clear as they waited for the phone to be picked up.

Victor’s face came into view, looking none too pleased. “Hello?”

Sam’s breath caught again. “Victor?”

“No, you must have the wrong number,” Eremiel frowned and looked at the phone. “Wait, this number. Is this-”

Ruby reached over and hung up.

“He didn’t recognize me,” Sam muttered to himself.

Ruby answered anyway. “Nope. That’s because it wasn’t your friend. Do you believe me now?”

“How did you know?” Sam asked, voice small now. “How did you know about Victor? That he was my neighbor?”

Ruby shrugged. “Lucifer’s been keeping an eye on you your whole life. Not as close as he’d like, and no creepy shower cams or whatever, but he knows some people in the compound. They kept him updated.”

Sam swallowed. Shower cams or no, that still sounded creepy to him. “Why didn’t you show me that before?”

“Because everyone involved with the compound is now looking for you. You’re worth a lot of money, and Eremiel would just love to claim the reward if he can track you down,” Ruby pocketed the phone. “I think I cut it off before he could trace us, but we’d better get going.”

He pulled his arm out of the way as she reached for it. “I didn’t say I was coming with you.”

“Seriously? You still don’t believe me?” Ruby huffed. “What the hell else can I do to prove it to you?”

“It’s not that. I mean, it’s still a little hard to wrap my head around, but that call with Victor… Eremiel…” Sam trailed off into a sigh, “But I can’t leave my brother behind. I can’t let that happen to him.”

Ruby frowned. “Dean? He’s twenty six. He’ll be fine, he’s got another two years left. You can talk to Lucifer, see if he’ll-”

“No. I’m not leaving him. If he stays, I stay,” Sam asserted. “You want me? Fine. But you have to get him out first.”

“It wasn’t easy to break you out, you know. Getting Dean when the security’s still raised from your escape? I’m not even sure I could do it,” Ruby argued.

Sam folded his arms. “Then I guess I’ll find someone who can.”

Ruby looked around in thought, trying to figure a way out of this mess. Eventually she swung her hands out in defeat. “Fine! Let’s go rescue Princess Dean from the dragon’s keep. But you owe me for this.”


	3. Chapter 3

Dean watched the man walk from where he stood beside Ellen. He was dark skinned with a lot of muscle and air about him that had even some of the bigger men in the Roadhouse keeping their distance. The few people he shook hands with and greeted shared the same proud grin as he did, a kind of cocky attitude that was probably backed up by plenty of experience. Or at least, plenty of experience if the scars littered over his exposed skin hinted at his past. Dean looked to the older woman beside him. “And he can help?”

“Gordon is good at what he does,” Ellen said. “And what he does is make money doing whatever he gets paid to do. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a greedy son of a bitch and he’ll claw your eyes out for a buck. But we’re paying him good so he’ll do what we tell him to and that’s what counts.”

Dean didn’t know how much he trusted someone whose loyalties were handed around like a greenback and he said as much to Ellen.

Her eyebrows rose. “Heavens, boy. Of course you shouldn’t trust him.”

That was hardly reassuring.

Gordon’s eyes finally fell on Ellen and Dean. As warm a smile as he could manage fell on his face at the sight of the woman and he shook her hand. “Ellen, always wonderful doing business with you.” She snorted in response but it didn’t seem to bother Gordon much. His eyes lit up at Dean, however, which just made Dean feel uncomfortable. “And you must be the clone I’m getting paid to tour guide around the black market.”

“Keep your voice down,” Ellen hissed.

Gordon arched an eyebrow at her. “Look at him, Ellen. He’s a _clone._ Your boy here is the spitting image of Michael and not a damn person who’s seen him doesn’t know what’s going on here. What’s your designation?” The last part was directed at Dean.

“My what?”

“Your designation. What do they call you?” Gordon asked, he slowed it down like he was talking to a child, something that made Dean stiffen.

“My name is Dean,” he replied icily.

Gordon smirked and patted his arm. “That’s cute. But I’m not talking about your name. I’m talking about your designation. When the guards are talking to you what do they call you? What do the doctors write on your file? AAA? Eagle?”

Oh. “Zero-one.”

“Well, aren’t you special,” Gordon said. He turned to Ellen, jerking his thumb in Dean’s direction. “Do you hear that, Ellen? He’s zero-one. You don’t have a clone here for any Tom, Dick, or Harriet. You have zero- _fucking_ -one. I thought I was being paid to escort a piece of property, not the goddamn crown jewels.”

“Stop beating around the bush,” Ellen said.

“This is going to cost you extra,” Gordon said bluntly. “A lot extra. Double. He’s going to have everyone and their brother’s roommate’s cousin’s dog looking for him. The only saving grace you got is that they can’t broadcast without bringing more attention to a missing clone than anyone would want.”

“Fine, we’ll pay double,” Ellen said, a hint of reluctance.

Gordon smiled. “Like, I said…it’s always wonderful doing business with you.”

Dean scowled and looked at Ellen. “I can do this on my own. I don’t need his help.”

Ellen gave him a sympathetic look but Gordon was the one that spoke. “The fact that you don’t even know how badly you need my help is a clear sign that you do. Ellen knows it. I know it. And if you weren’t a brainwashed empty shell, you’d know it too.”

Dean grit his teeth together but didn’t argue.

Ellen put her hand over his upper arm and squeezed gently. “I’ll get you some supplies together and then you and Gordon can start looking for Sam.”

“Sam?” Gordon asked.

“Zero-two,” Dean supplied bitterly.

Gordon shook his head and smiled at Ellen again. “I bet those lab coats are shitting their pants right about now.”

\---

“How can a clone who has never been outside the community disappear from the face of the Earth?” Naomi demanded.

Castiel stood before her, arms hanging loosely at his sides beside the material of his tan trench coat. “I did not say he disappeared. I said that he was very clearly not within the community or in the area around it and I would like access to the more advanced technology at the company’s disposal in order to track him better.”

“How did he get so far?” Naomi asked, calmer this time.

“I interrogated the guard who zero-one physically accosted, Robert Singer. He said zero-one was panicked over the loss of zero-two. He demanded to be allowed to help look for him. When Singer refused, zero-one knocked him unconscious. By the time Singer woke up, zero-one had packed a bag, cut out his tracker, ditched his phone, and stolen Singer’s money and car keys.” Castiel thought that was a lot of initiative for a clone to be taking all on his own. They were typically quite docile, easily guided. Most were too scared of the outside world to want to go out into it, even to save another clone. And physical violence was heavily discouraged for fear that one of the clones would be injured. Nobody paid much money for a damaged clone. “It is my belief that someone helped him escape which makes me question whether or not zero-two was working with the person who took him.”

“In order for zero-two to be working with his, as of now, assumed abductor then he would have had to have contact prior to leaving the compound. However, I’ve had our techs scouring all the electronics that zero-two would have had contact with and there is no sign that he had any intentions of leaving, let alone making plans with someone outside,” Naomi said.

Castiel shrugged. “You asked for my opinion. It is very hard to believe that zero-one managed his escape without help. There is significant evidence towards the theory that zero-two was taken involuntarily. However, the evidence surrounding zero-one’s escape leads me to believe that he had some sort of outside help.”

Naomi crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Castiel carefully. If her analysis bothered the man, he didn’t show it. In fact, he met her gaze with something akin to curiosity. She pursed her lips and pressed a button on the phone on her desk. “Have the techs look over zero-one’s electronics as well. Everything he might have come in contact with.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the voice on the other end of the line said.

Naomi pressed the button again, to end the call. “Mr. Novak, you have my official permission to use the technology available to help find zero-one. Remember, zero-one is your first priority. If you find zero-two as well and can safely bring back both clones to the community that is preferred but we have numerous people scouring the area looking for zero-two. We cannot afford to let anyone find out that zero-one ever managed to get past the gates.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Castiel said.

“Keep me updated,” Naomi said. Her phone rang.

“Yes, ma’am,” Castiel replied. He turned and walked away just as Naomi picked up the phone, dismissing Castiel.

Castiel walked down the hallways away from Naomi’s office, having memorized the labyrinthine building plan a long time ago – in the case that should he ever need it, he would have it at the ready. It always paid to know one’s surroundings. The stark white walls, broken by the occasional solid metal door, stretched seemingly endlessly but Castiel eventually found himself in the bowels of the building, two floors beneath the ground and in front of a door simply marked – “Cyber Security”. He placed his hand over the biometric scanner and watched the orange glow of the computer reading his palm. The light above the scanner flashed from red to green and the sound of the lock clicking open echoed in the area of the hallway by the door. He pushed it open and stepped inside the room. The door closed behind him and the lock clicked shut once more.

Clearly, Naomi hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said all the techs were going through zero-two’s stuff. The cyber security room was empty and the portable tech kits hanging on the wall were all gone. A half empty soda cup was leaving a small puddle of condensation on someone’s desk and the quiet sound of someone’s playlist was barely audible over the hum of the computers in the room. Castiel was not of the sociable sort anyways so the emptiness of the room was not only tolerable, but welcome. He took a seat at the nearest computer, caring little whose desktop he was working off of, and immediately opened the files on zero-one.

Dean. The community gave the clones names, families, and lives for twenty-eight years. It was all kept careful track of, meticulously watched. There were hundreds of cameras, thousands of microphones, chip tracking data, and more. In Dean’s file, Castiel found a chart detailing the type of TV the clone had watched and for how long he’d watched it. His medical history was in there along with history of every meal he’d ever eaten ever.

Castiel clicked back to find information about Dean’s childhood in the nursery. Numerous instances were flagged about a strong bond formed between Dean and designation zero-two, Sam. Even earlier, there was a flag in Dean’s file regarding the death of one Mary Campbell who had died when the nursery caught fire as she rushed to get the youngest clones out to safety. Four year old Dean had apparently taken it especially hard and the files warned that fire might be an especially difficult trigger in the future to overcome. Psychiatrist records, school records, culminating in a graduation. It was carefully noted that while Dean had an incredibly high IQ and a talent for mechanics, he’d chosen not to pursue any forms of higher education unlike his brother:

_'I just think there are better things to be doing with my time. Sammy’s good for that kind of stuff but I guess I’d just rather be working with my hands.'_

Not that it mattered, considering any and all knowledge learned would be wiped away along with the clones memories, personality, and dreams. Castiel was struck with a sudden feeling, a regret that Dean Winchester would not get the future of working with his hands that he desired. But then he quickly squashed it. After all, it was just a clone. Easily replaced. According to the information here, Michael’s next clone was already being raised in the nursery. They were calling it Adam.

Castiel opened up a new window, keying in the codes to begin using facial recognition software. He immediately discarded the cameras catching Michael, zero-one’s original, and began searching for Dean.

\---

At another computer in a small internet café about a day’s drive from the community in Lawrence, Kansas, Anna Milton was signing onto a locked chatroom. From time to time she would peek over her shoulder and make sure the few scattered patrons of the café were busy with their own work. When it was clear that she was getting the maximum privacy that public anonymity offered, she sent her first message:

>>FallenAngel: I’m going to get a tattoo, any advice?

//QueenoftheMoon has logged on//

<<QueenoftheMoon: Don’t get drunk at Comic Con.

Anna smiled. That was her contact. She messaged again:

>>FallenAngel: I’ll keep that in mind. I’m going to have to miss Comic Con this year anyways. I’m taking a road trip.

<<QueenoftheMoon: Already???

>>FallenAngel: I finally found that piece to my car I’ve been looking for. I didn’t want to put the road trip off any longer.

<<QueenoftheMoon: ….you found it?

Anna smiled wider.

>>FallenAngel: I found it.

<<QueenoftheMoon: Hot damn. Alright, sounds like a road trip is /definitely/ in order then. Screw Comic Con (Lord, forgive me for my blasphemy). I’ll work on getting you some directions.

>>FallenAngel: Try to hurry. One of my cats got out and Animal Control is looking for it.

<<QueenoftheMoon: That’s not good….

>>FallenAngel: If my car works, it won’t matter. I can find my cat and keep Animal Control away. But I have to get my car working first.

<<QueenoftheMoon: True. Alright. Hold tight for directions, I’ll get you on this road trip and we’ll go rescue your cat.

//QueenoftheMoon has logged off//

Anna peeked over her shoulder again. There was a man playing some kind of computer game in the far corner and a woman writing what appeared to be an email on another. A teenage boy reading something intently. She turned back to her computer.

//QueenoftheMoon has logged on//

<<QueenoftheMoon: Alright, let me know when you’re ready.

Anna pulled out a piece of pen and paper, preparing to write down the address. The door pushed open and a man walked in, dark skinned and bald. Anna felt the color drain from her face as he looked around the room. His eyes fell on her and a smug smile split his face. Anna bent over the keyboard, fingers shaking.

>>FallenAngel: Abort. Animal Control has caught up with me.

<<QueenoftheMoon: Can you run?

Footsteps around the rows of computers.

>>FallenAngel: No.

<<QueenoftheMoon: We’ll get you out of there.

>>FallenAngel: You might be too late.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Anna abruptly logged out of the chat before Uriel would have any time to read the messages. His low voice spoke, “Dr. Milton, the company has some questions for you.”

\---

“I packed you a bag. There’s a cell phone and some cash, a couple of protein bars, and a weapon. Normally I wouldn’t bother with the gun but if you get caught, a gun is the last thing you’re going to need to worry about,” Ellen said.

Dean nodded and picked up the bag, a green and black backpack that he slung over his shoulder. “Thanks. I guess it’s kind of dangerous to be helping me-” Or so he’d gathered. “-But I appreciate it. Sammy is the only person I’ve got left. I have to help him and this would be a hell of a lot harder on my own.”

“Well, honey, if anyone could do it I’d be betting it would be you,” Ellen said. “Now go on and save your damsel in distress. The minute you find him, Gordon is gonna bring you back here and then Bobby and I and the rest of the resistance, we’re going to find you a good place to hide.”

“Thank you,” Dean repeated.

“You coming, pretty boy?” Gordon asked.

Dean looked over and sighed. He walked over to the other man. “Don’t call me that, asshole.”

Gordon raised an eyebrow, surprised by Dean’s backbone. “You know, I think I might like you after all.”

Dean shifted the backpack on his shoulder. “I suppose I can die fulfilled then.”


	4. Chapter 4

Dean itched to change the radio station. Freakin' jazz. He hated jazz, it had no recognizable time signature to tap his fingers to. Give him good old rock with a solid drum beat and guitar riff any day of the week. But goddamn Gordon had seemingly noticed Dean's aversion to jazz and seemed to be leaving it on purposely to mess with him. And he was humming. Dean had no idea if he was actually tone deaf or if it was just the result of trying to hum to something that is completely unpredictable, but it was driving him nuts.

He also hated being in the passenger seat. But Gordon was the one who knew where they were going and had outright laughed at Dean's argument that it was his car (well, Bobby's but he'd given it to Dean not this asshole).

He glared over at Gordon who grinned back in return, clearly enjoying Dean's annoyance.

"I love this song," Gordon said smugly.

"Really," Dean muttered.

Gordon started humming again.

\---

Castiel paused the playback, squinting at the slightly blurry face on the screen, then skipped forward to check the plates on the vehicle. It was Dean in Singer's stolen Impala.

He double checked the location of the traffic camera and started to go over nearby routes, trying to judge which direction Dean was heading in.

An hour later he packed his things and was on the road.

\---

They pulled in to get gas around six hours after taking off from the Roadhouse. Gordon left with a sneer and a 'stay boy', heading to the run down little service station.

Almost entirely to spite Gordon, Dean got out of the car to stretch his legs, hissing with satisfaction as his lower back popped and he managed to get some of the tension out of his shoulders. The air was dusty and smelt like petrol, but it still relieved the stale feeling in his lungs, and the breeze that blew across his face felt like a glass of cool, fresh water.

A car pulled in next to his and he watched curiously and a little cautiously as a short man in a suit and a tall, thin but muscular man got out and headed over towards the service station.

A moment later they were back, the short one leaning his head in the car to speak to a third person Dean couldn't see.

Gordon came out and approached the short man, swaggering a little to cover nerves that were obvious in his face.

They started back towards the Impala and Dean took an involuntary step back. The short man grinned.

“So, you must be the legendary Dean. It's a pleasure,” The voice was deeper than Dean expected, a British accent curling the words disdainfully.

“Who the hell are you?” Dean asked.

The man's grin grew wider. “The name's Crowley.”

Dean struggled to keep himself under control. This was the bastard that had Sam.

“You may wanna watch him,” Gordon told Crowley. “He's got a hell of a temper on him.”

“Delightful,” Crowley replied. He clicked his fingers and the tall guy approached Dean.

“Woah, hey! Hands off the merchandise!” Dean spat out, frantically backing away.

The tall guy just stalked after him until he hit the side of the car then grabbed him forcefully by the shoulder. He just had time to see Gordon give him a taunting wave before a chloroform covered cloth was pressed to his face and the strength left his limbs.

\---

Castiel walked into the Roadhouse, the first stopping place on the route he'd worked out. Dean would likely have stopped here for refreshments.

He scanned the crowd for a moment before approaching the bar. A pretty blonde came to serve him almost immediately. He flashed his ID and slid a photograph of Dean over the bar, ignoring how it almost stuck in places. “Have you seen this man?”

She paused with a frown on her face, “No, but he's cute.” She turned to yell down the bar, “Hey Mom! You seen this guy before?” She waved around the photo until an older woman came over.

She took the picture from her daughter and shrugged, “We get a lot of fellas in here. You want me to keep an eye out for him?”

Castiel studied them both for an uncomfortable moment. “No. Thank you.” He took the photograph back and tucked it away.

“Can I get you anything?” The younger woman asked.

Castiel hesitated. He shook his head. “I should be going.”

He left without further delay. He was certain they were lying, but he had no proof and they were far too relaxed to be harboring a fugitive. Dean must have already left.

\---

Dean woke up in the dark. His feet were going numb and his wrists were tied uncomfortably behind his back.

A jolt shook through him and he groaned. He was fairly sure he was in the trunk of a car.

His head ached and he could feel drool crusting over on his cheek. He grimaced and tried to move his feet, his grimace growing as he succeeded in bringing back feeling to his toes, pins and needles shooting painfully up his leg.

He listened carefully but he couldn't hear anything over the roar of the engine and the sound of the tires going over tarmac beneath him.

The car slid to a stop not long after he woke up, and Dean nearly brained himself on the lid of the trunk as his head shot up in anticipation.

A few minutes of silence, then the sounds of car doors slamming shut.

Bright light dazed him when the trunk opened and it took a moment to adjust before he could make out the tall guy from the gas station, by which time said guy was grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up and out of the car. His legs nearly gave out beneath him, but the painful grip on his arm kept him upright.

“Where am I?” Dean demanded, not really expecting an answer.

The guy didn't even glance at him, instead looking over his shoulder before dragging Dean towards a rundown looking warehouse.

Dean rolled his eyes at the cliché. “This your super villain hide out?”

“Darling, I don't have hide outs,” Crowley's voice came from behind him and he tried to twist to see, “This is a handover point. Business only.”

“Selling me on already?” Dean's heart pounded. If this was how quickly it had happened to Sam he could be anywhere by now.

“Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I'm a very busy man whose business isn't always glowingly legal, and the quicker I can move product, the less likely it is that I'll get caught,” Crowley stepped up level with them and a slimmer but meaner and dumber looking guy stepped forward to open the door in the side of the warehouse.

They waited outside for a little while until the dumb looking guy had come back from what Dean assumed was a quick search of the warehouse. He nodded and they made their way inside.

They stopped in roughly the middle of the cavernous space, dumb guy procuring a chair from somewhere so Crowley could sit down.

They didn't have long to wait.

A door on the opposite side of the warehouse swung open and three other guys stepped through. Dean barely glanced at the other two, because the man in the middle was so creepy Dean's skin crawled. He couldn't look away, real fear prickling down his spine for the first time since he'd left the roadhouse. No matter what was about to happen to him, he really hoped Sam hadn't been sold to this guy. It would make it easier to find him if he was, but the thought of his baby brother in this guy's hands was enough to have Dean wishing Sam a thousand miles away.

“Alistair,” Crowley stood and greeted once the new arrivals were in easy hearing distance, “So good to see you again.

Alistair just smiled a slow, oozing smile at looked Dean up and down. “How much?”

Crowley smiled uneasily. “Well, it takes quite an effort to secure a clone as I'm sure you know. And he's zero-one. The value of his DNA alone-”

“He has the full force of Michael's organization searching for him,” Alistair cut Crowley off and turned his awful smile back to him. “The very fact you came to me, means you couldn't find another buyer and you need to move him quickly.”

Crowley fidgeted. “That doesn't change his value.”

“Supply and demand. Nobody's demanding what you're supplying,” Alistair argued smoothly, never seeming to need to blink.

Dean tuned out as they started discussing prices. It was too sickening. He only hoped whatever Crowley wanted for him was more than Alistair was willing to pay. He shifted and took in his surroundings, hoping to see something that would inspire an escape plan.

“Deal,” Alistair said with gleeful finality.

Dean's stomach dropped. “Wait...”

Alistair's goons were already approaching and they looked even meaner than Crowley's. Sure enough, one of them was fingering a taser instead of chloroform. 

“Hey now, there's no need for that!” Dean raised his hands non-threateningly and tried to keep panic from overwhelming him.

Alistair just tilted his head a little. “No, there probably isn't.” He waved a hand at the goon, who switched the taser on.

Dean backed up and prepared to run, but even he knew he wouldn't be fast enough. He heard a click before he felt the shock and pain. “Fu-”

\---

Castiel ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

The trail had gone cold. There were no more traffic cameras for miles and his brain already felt like it had melted from going through every traffic camera on every route Dean could have taken. The Impala didn't show up on any footage, and neither did Dean's face.

The last footage he had was about ten miles out from the Roadhouse, and showed a tall black man driving the Impala with Dean in the passenger seat. Then nothing.

He'd tried looking for Dean's companion, but the only footage he found showed him heading away on his own, and a motel's security cameras confirmed Dean's absence from the scene.

He sighed. At least the motel wasn't far and Dean's companion wouldn't have left yet if he was really checking in for a night.

He took a breath and started the car again.

\---

Dean woke to a face full of cold water.

He sputtered into consciousness and blinked rapidly to clear his bleary vision.

Alistair was stood in front of him and slightly to his side, empty bucket at his feet. He was wearing an apron and there was a covered tray to his left.

Alistair grinned and Dean's insides froze. “Wakey wakey,” The man's creepily nasal voice taunted.

Dean tried to glare but he couldn't help feeling that his overwhelming fear somewhat ruined the effect. “Who are you? And what am I doing here?” He tugged uselessly at the manacles chaining him to what looked from the edges of his vision like a hospital bed with no mattress, settled upright on its foot.

“I am your master,” Alistair replied, “And you're here to have fun.”

Dean had a stomach churning feeling that he and Alistair had very different definitions of 'fun'.

With a dramatic flair, Alistair whipped the cover from the tray, revealing a collection of medical instruments and things that looked very much like they weren't used to heal people.

Dean pressed back against the metal frame of the bed.

“What shall we start with?” Alistair asked, clearly enjoying the way Dean couldn't keep his eyes off the tray.

“How about warm milk and hugs?” Dean answered, the tremor in his voice giving him away.

Alistair chuckled, an unpleasant, wheezy sound. His fingers played over the tray, cataloguing Dean's response as his fingers passed over specific items. “Oh, I like you.”

“Yeah, well, I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual,” Dean shot back with more bravery than he'd thought he had left in him. He kept wondering if Sammy was here somewhere.

Alistair tutted and his bony fingers came to rest on a scalpel. “That wasn't very nice.”

Dean didn't talk after that. It hurt too much.

\---

Castiel didn't bother knocking. He rarely did.

The door swung open with ease from his strong kick, flying back to hit the wall and starting to rebound.

He held his hand up to stop it swinging shut again and strode through to where Dean's companion was dressed in a towel, clearly having just had a shower.

“Where's Dean?” Castiel demanded straight away.

The man backed away, reaching stealthily for the nightstand where he no doubt had a weapon.

Castiel didn't wait for him to reach it, he moved forward and grabbed the man by the throat, pinning him against the wall out of reaching distance from the nightstand. Castiel didn't bother asking again, he just waited.

“I don't know!” The man lied, “I don't know who you're talking about!”

Again, Castiel didn't bother repeating himself. He slid his hand up, raising the man by his throat.

“Look buddy,” The man choked out, hands scrabbling at Castiel's wrists, “You got the wrong guy! I don't know anything!”

Castiel sighed and gave a little headshake. He hated it when people refused to talk. He reached for the taser on his belt, setting it to a charge high enough to be painful but not enough to incapacitate.

“What are you doing?” The man asked, his weight now supported between Castiel's hand and the wall, and his own grip on Castiel's arm. His eyes were fixed on the taser.

Castiel didn't feel the need to explain himself. Just waited a moment for the taser to charge up before jabbing it into the man's ribs. A part of the current travelled up his arm from where he gripped the man's skin, but he ignored it. His subject didn't have that ability.

Castiel waited another moment before pulling the taser away, allowing the man to recover a little and the taser to build up charge again. “Can you talk?”

The man spluttered for a moment before levelling a glare at Castiel. “Fuck you.”

The taser was ready again. Castiel jabbed it into the man's thigh this time.

This time when he released, the man refused to talk, though Castiel could tell by the way he grit his teeth in refusal that it was more willingness than ability that stopped him.

He moved up and around the thigh next, the current carrying good and strong through the artery.

The man gasped and fought for breath, his grip now too weak to help support his weight.

“I don't know how much more your body can withstand without lasting damage,” Castiel said idly before the next round of tasering. He chose the solar plexus this time, half curious to see how his heart would react.

As the man began to choke proper from the hand around his throat, Castiel lowered him so his feet touched the ground again, though a deal of his weight still rested in Castiel's hand.

“Crowley,” The man spat out reluctantly, voice shaking and rough, “He wanted to track down his brother so he went to Crowley.”

Castiel waited a moment but the man seemed firm in his conviction. Castiel nodded, releasing his grip. The man's face turned relieved. Castiel ignored it and pulled out his knife. He couldn't have anyone else following the trail he had.

A moment later Castiel exited the motel, wiping blood from his blade and tucking it away again. He climbed into his car and drove a little way up the road before pulling over and reaching for his laptop, taking a moment to turn the motel security cameras back on while he was still in range of the closed network. He double checked the footage that was uploaded at the end of each hour to the private server just to be thorough before heading off again, confident that he hadn't left a trace of himself.

\---

Dean tried to suppress the sobs shaking through him while Alistair took a break from his 'fun'. The bastard was sat sipping a cup of tea or coffee or what the hell ever, calmly taking in his own handiwork.

Dean's chest and arms were now covered with cuts of various length and depth, some of them forming little pictures or words. Along the top of his waistband the words 'pretty boy' were carved. He didn't know what was worse, the pain, the fear that it would get worse, or the uncertainty over whether the words etched in his skin would scar. The thought of those words in particular marked permanently into his skin left him with a feeling of embarrassment and revulsion.

“Why are you doing this?” Dean asked. Maybe if he knew why he could get it to stop.

Alistair trailed his eyes down Dean's body and Dean suppressed a shudder, swallowing down bile.

“No reason,” Alistair answered in a mock innocent tone. “You have such pretty skin, all those freckles. It looks so lovely covered in blood.”

Dean would have thrown up then if he'd had anything to eat in the last 24 hours. As it was he just found himself swallowing bile again.

“Maybe you should have a go yourself,” Alistair continued. “Give you a chance to stretch your legs. I have a lovely young thing I got only recently, it might be nice to see you play.”

Dean's breath caught in his throat with the absolute terror that formed at those words. All he could think was that it was Sammy. That this bastard was asking him if he wanted to torture his baby brother. He didn't need proof for his imagination to take him places he really didn't want to go.

Alistair slurped the rest of his drink and stood. “What do you think, pretty boy?”

Dean shook his head, afraid of what would come out if he tried to refuse verbally.

“No?” Alistair grinned, “Having too much fun?” He approached at a leisurely pace, not bothering to pick anything up off the tray. Instead he wandered over to Dean's left hand.

He knew by now that clenching his fists would only make whatever Alistair planned to do to him worse, so Dean sucked in a breath and forced his hand to remain still, even as Alistair brushed fingers over his knuckles.

“This little piggy went to market,” Alistair half sung, wiggling Dean's thumb and moving on down Dean's fingers, “This little piggy stayed at home. This little piggy had roast beef. And this little piggy had none. And this little piggy,” He paused at Dean's pinky, then forced it back. Dean screamed as the bone snapped, “Went 'wee wee wee', all the way home.”

\---

“We have a general location, but since Ion went dark we can't get close enough for exact co-ordinates,” Naomi's voice came through the car speakers, “Head due north for about fifteen miles then north-east for another three and wait for contact. We will try and get you closer from there.”

“Understood,” Castiel replied, already mentally running through the area.

Naomi signed off and Castiel kept driving. He fought the urge to speed. They didn't need the attention that would bring, though Castiel knew the chances were good that Crowley was already lining up a buyer. No matter that Dean's companion from earlier had claimed Dean had gone willingly, Castiel had read enough about the black market trader to know that he wouldn't pass up the opportunity.

Even obeying traffic laws, it didn't take too long to get to his destination. He pulled up outside a chain restaurant and went inside to await contact. He took his laptop with him.

Inside he ordered a coffee to keep the servers from bothering him and opened the map on his browser. He spent half an hour pouring over it, trying to find somewhere that would match the profile he had on Crowley. He found a handful of locations and wrote them down. If Naomi's intelligence didn't get him anything better, he could make a start searching.

He rubbed absently at his chest above his tracker, they should have been in contact by now.

He pushed the thought aside and did some background research on the most likely of the locations he'd marked off.

Someone took a seat across the table and Castiel looked up.

“Castiel,” Ion greeted.

“Ion,” Castiel studied him, puzzled. “We assumed you were discovered.” The 'and killed' went unspoken.

“Oh, I was,” Ion confirmed with a small nod, “But Crowley is an intelligent business man. He saw my value.”

“You work for him,” Castiel said flatly. Then, “You disabled my tracker. That's why they haven't been in contact. How?”

“I've been following you for a few miles. When you pulled up here I hit you with a pulse,” Ion explained. “I gave them a few chances to try to reset the signal, and now that they think you're dead I thought we could have a little talk.”

“No,” Castiel stated firmly. “I am going to find zero-one. You are either going to tell me where he is, or I will kill you.”

“Don't you want to hear what I have to say?” Ion asked, quietly amused.

“No. I'm not interested in working for a criminal. Where is zero-one?” Castiel demanded.

Ion shrugged, “Can't say I didn't try.” His eyes gave a near unnoticeable flicker over Castiel's shoulder.

Castiel dodged before the man sitting behind him could touch him. He followed through with the motion until he came to stand, turning to keep the two of them in his line of sight. “This is not an appropriate place for this.”

Ion's associate sniggered and looked pointedly at the waitress, who was ignoring them and calmly refilling another patron's coffee. “Here is just fine.”

Castiel didn't pause to think over the implications. He quickly reached for his coffee and threw it, mug and all, leaving Ion's associate stumbling back and wiping coffee from his eyes. He blocked Ion's lunge and tried to knee him in the stomach. Ion turned his body away and went to punch Castiel in the ribs. Castiel caught his fist and pulled him off balance. They both reached for their weapons at the same time.

Castiel was outnumbered, there were probably more of them nearby, and he had no way of contacting back up. He thought through his options and when Ion's associate punched him in the head, he didn't block.

\---

“What shall we play with now?” Alistair mused aloud.

Dean didn't answer. He was past witty retorts. He was past speech or coherent thinking.

Alistair didn't need any encouragement. “Let’s play a game,” He picked up a box of matches. “I'm going to light a match and hand it to you. You're going to hold on to it. If you drop it, I stab you in the arm.”

A rasping noise that reminded Dean of Alistair's laugh sounded and then he had a tiny piece of flaming wood gripped between his thumb and forefinger. He gritted his teeth as the flame burned down closer to his skin. His lips turned white with the effort of fighting his instincts. His burned fingers twitched and the match dropped to the floor.

Alistair grinned.

\---

Castiel was tied to a chair. He was unfortunately familiar enough with the feeling to identify it before he was even fully conscious. His eyes opened and he scanned his surroundings, registering the exits and possible weapons and cover, then the three men in the room with him (Crowley, Ion and the man from the diner), before finally registering the details. He was in a study or an office. It was pretentiously decorated and furnished with deeps reds and dark wood.

“Nice of you to join us,” Crowley mocked. “We've been waiting for some time. I guess you haven't been getting enough sleep lately.”

Castiel didn't bother with speech. He felt for how he was bound and shifted subtly to feel if they'd missed any of his weapons when they'd no doubt searched him. Nothing. Ion knew him too well.

Castiel ignored the aspects of his situation that he couldn't yet change and met Crowley's eyes. “Where is zero-one?”

“Oh, don't you worry about him. He has a wonderful new master who is no doubt having plenty of fun with him,” Crowley smiled lasciviously. “You, however, warrant more concern.” He sighed dramatically. “You won't join us and I can't let you go. Whatever am I to do with you?”

Castiel kept his mouth shut.

“I heard from a dear enemy turned business associate of mine that there's another clone on the loose,” Crowley said when his thinly veiled threats didn't stir a response. “Dean's brother, Sam. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?”

Castiel ignored the question. “Who did you sell zero-one to?”

Crowley sighed again. “I had hoped you'd be a little more co-operative,” He clicked his fingers and the man from the diner brought him some gloves. “But I see we'll just have to do this the hard way.”

Ion handed him Castiel's own blade and Crowley turned it over in his hands.

Castiel eyed him impassively. His own pain was irrelevant. He needed to find Dean.

He didn't even flinch at the first cold press of the blade, just glared at Crowley. “Where is zero-one?”

Crowley tutted. “Now, I feel you're missing the point behind this. _I_ ask the questions here and _you_ answer them.”

“How much did he sell for?”

Crowley frowned in irritation and drew the knife across Castiel's cheek. “Tell me about the other clone.”

“It can't have been much,” Castiel said, “It was too quick of a sale. I have access to funding to find him.”

Crowley paused.

“I can give you much more than you got for him, and much more than you would get for Sam,” Castiel pressed on.

“I am a business man, going back on my word could ruin my reputation,” Crowley answered carefully.

“Did you agree not to tell anyone who bought zero-one?” Castiel asked.

“Discretion is implied.”

Castiel tilted his head. “But not promised.”

Crowley paused again. “I got ten thousand for him in a quick private sale. I could get ten times that for his brother at auction.”

“I can give you twenty thousand.”

“Eighty.”

“Sam will have Lucifer's men looking for him as soon as they know he's out. Thirty.” Castiel argued.

“Thirty five.”

Castiel nodded. “Very well.”

Crowley looked at him shrewdly. “I heard about what happened to dear old Gordon. I'm assuming that was you.”

Castiel saw no point in denying it. He stayed silent.

Crowley chuckled. “Then you'll understand my reluctance to untie you. I'll have Ion here take you somewhere where you can't do any damage and have him make the exchange with you. Once the money is in my bank account, I'll tell him where Dean is. Until then he, and you, will remain clueless.”

Castiel's eyes narrowed. “Unacceptable. How do I know you'll hold up your end?”

Crowley shrugged. “I'm sorry darling, but with who you work for, I'm the more trustworthy party here. I already told you, I don't go back on deals.”

Albeit reluctantly, Castiel couldn't help but agree.

He was halfway out of the door, arms still bound and Ion's hand on his shoulder when Crowley spoke again. “Oh, and I'd keep your tracker offline. Naomi isn't the only one who can track it.”

\---

Alistair was taking another tea break while Dean shivered and tried to focus on his breathing.

“Are you ready to have a go yourself yet?” Alistair asked after a few sips.

Dean's eyes shot up. The desperate, incoherent part of his mind that had taken over nearly three hours ago now started pleading with his mouth to say yes. This was the seventh time Alistair had offered. Deliriously, Dean began to argue with himself that at the very least, he needed to know if this bastard had Sam or not. He could always refuse once he saw who it was he was supposed to torture. “Yes.”

He only knew he'd spoken by the spike of pain in his scream-strained throat and the gleeful look on Alistair's face.

Minutes later he stood swaying on his feet as Alistair demonstrated what he wanted Dean to do to the young man in front of him. His exhausted mind could only register a slight twinge of guilt.

It wasn't Sam.

Alistair handed Dean the razor blade he'd been using, confident that Dean was too weak to try anything other than what he was told. “Your turn.”

Dean stood frozen. His thoughts came back to him in a rush. He couldn't do this.

“Cut him or cut yourself,” Alistair said conversationally.

Dean hesitated.

Then Alistair's hands were on him, hot breath in his ear. “You know, there's a whole part of your body we haven't... explored yet.” His hands moved down to Dean's inner thighs and crotch.

Dean cut himself. He nearly sobbed in relief as he felt Alistair's hands retract.

Alistair laughed.

Dean met the eyes of the terrified young man he was supposed to torture. He knew that any second now Alistair would demand he cut again, either himself or this person looking at him pleadingly. He silently begged Sammy for forgiveness and slid the blade up his own wrists, slitting the arteries and allowing himself to fall to the ground.

Alistair looked at him in surprise.

Shouts came from outside before they were cut off abruptly and the door swung open.

A man with dark hair and electric blue eyes stormed in, eyes landing on Dean and narrowing in anger.

Alistair stabbed him.

The man looked faintly surprised for a moment before he stuck his own blade into Alistair's neck.

Dean watched as Alistair fell to the ground, a horrible burbling sound coming from his mouth in a wordless cry for help.

“Dean,” The man said.

Dean met those blue eyes and promptly passed out.

\---

He ached all over. But not as much as he should. Dean's eyes snapped open.

“Hello Dean,” His rescuer said softly from where he sat next to the bed Dean lay on.

Dean tried to speak and failed, throat too dry and raw to make a sound beyond a faint rasp.

“There's water on the nightstand,”

Dean looked obediently to the side and reached for the glass. He swallowed it down slowly, forehead creased with pain as the cold liquid soothed down his sore throat. He set the glass back down once it was empty. “Who are you?”

“I'm Castiel, security officer for Edlund and Sons,” Castiel replied.

Dean slumped back into the bed. “You're here to take me back. To get mind wiped or whatever.”

Castiel frowned. “I'm here to take you home. You're very important.”

“Why? Because my original is your boss? Yeah, I found that out after twenty-six years in the dark,” Dean said bitterly. “I'm damaged goods now anyway, at least some of these are gonna scar. Why didn't you just leave me to die?”

Castiel said nothing.

Dean snorted and turned away from him, trying not to wince as his many injuries twinged with the movement. He could tell Castiel had patched him up, but he clearly hadn't bothered with pain killers. “I'm not going back there,” He threw over his shoulder.

“You would rather be out here with men like Alistair?”

Dean flinched.

“Back at the community you're safe. No one will hurt you there,” Castiel tried.

Dean swallowed back tears. “Yeah, until I hit twenty-eight, right?”

Castiel hesitated, clearly unable to think of a good reply to that. “You still have two more years.”

“After this? I doubt it,” Dean argued. “Besides, I left to find my brother and I'm damn well staying out here until I've got him back.”

He closed his eyes, intending to sleep off some of the pain so he'd have a chance of actually following through on what he said.

“Then I'll come with you.”

Dean turned to face Castiel.

“We'll find him together,” Castiel continued, “And then we'll go back.”

“Back to your death camp? I don't think so. Sammy isn't going anywhere near that place again if I get a say,” Dean said in tone that threatened just what lengths he'd go to keep his brother safe.

Castiel met his eyes evenly. “He'll have six years. What he does in that time is up to him. His original is no longer a member of our clientele.”

“But he's still a clone,” Dean spoke almost questioningly, “He'd still get sold off as a meatsuit for some rich guy or another.”

“Eventually. But until then he has a minimum of six years to find somewhere safe to go and a way to get there,” Castiel carefully explained, “The Company isn't nearly as concerned with him.”

Dean stared.

Castiel didn't look away.

A deep breath and then, “Fine. Okay,” Dean agreed. “But you help me find him first.”

Castiel nodded and went to fill up Dean's water again.

“Cas?”

Castiel paused.

“Do you have any painkillers?”


	5. Chapter 5

When Kevin Tran was five, he told his mother that he was going to be the first Asian American president of the United States. And Linda Tran, because she was the kind of mother that supported the dreams of her son no matter what they were, did her best to help him achieve this. They stayed up late watching presidential debates and drove five hours on Saturdays to go meet their state representatives. Linda helped put together a campaign for her little politician when he decided to run for class president.

She held him while he cried, having lost that first year.

She celebrated when he won by a landslide every year after that.

Kevin Tran knew exactly who and what he wanted to be from age five. He had a plan. He had a schedule. He had violin lessons. What he didn’t have was any passion, something he realized on the cusp of his senior year. Kevin didn’t actually like politics. Debates were interesting, campaigning was a challenge, but he didn’t actually enjoy the responsibilities and duties of his office. He couldn’t imagine that would change just because he got a bigger, more ovular office. So at seventeen, Kevin Tran sat down with his mother and broke the news that he was not actually going to be the first Asian American president of the United States.

And Linda Tran, because she was the kind of mother that supported the dreams of her son no matter what they were, demanded to know what the hell he was going to do now.

Kevin Tran decided to go into programming.

He was good at it, though that was hardly surprising because with a genius IQ and an endless amount of dedication Kevin had found that he could be quite good at a lot of things. But programming was fun and Kevin liked computers and while it didn’t have quite the same ring to it as first Asian American president of the United States of America it did sound exactly like what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. So Kevin cancelled his early acceptance to Stanford and sent an almost too late application to M.I.T. He received his acceptance shortly after and Linda Tran, well, she celebrated. Even if she didn’t totally understand her son.

Because that was just the kind of mom she was.

Fast forward some odd years involving lots of studying, a little drinking, not enough sleeping, and the one time with the falafel that shall never be spoken of again, Kevin was granted the coveted paid internship as a junior programmer under Dr Anna Milton at Edlund and Sons. Dr Milton was a wonderfully intelligent woman and Kevin knew he would learn a lot from her.

He’d never expected to learn some of the things that he did.

Like realizing that the paid internship he’d worked so hard to obtain, had slaved over the essay and spent countless hours on the application, was kind of like selling your soul to the devil. What Kevin did, what Kevin had a hand in, wasn’t something that Kevin wanted to have a hand in – something he learned over the course of a few hours.

The woman in charge of their entire complex, Naomi, was a stern woman and something about her always rubbed Kevin the wrong way. He’d always figured, if you’re going to do the job that Naomi did then you probably just had the fun sucked right out of you. He was starting to realize that it probably had a lot less to do with the job and more to do with her. “Mr. Tran, may I have a moment?”

“Of course,” he said, turning away from his work at the computer and facing her instead. “What can I do for you?”

“Can you please explain to me where Dr Milton has run off to?” Naomi asked.

“Well, she said she had an emergency and took off early yesterday,” Kevin replied vaguely.

“And?” Naomi asked.

“And what?” Kevin asked.

Naomi’s eyes narrowed on him. “And why is she not here today?”

“To be honest, ma’am, I don’t know. I assumed that she’d called you and let you know she wouldn’t be coming in,” Kevin lied. “Maybe, with her emergency, she just forgot.”

Naomi didn’t look away and Kevin did a damn good job, he thought at least, of meeting her gaze. She turned to the door. “If you should hear from her, please remind her that there are rules about not showing up for work. Continue with your duties.”

He messaged Anna once, asking her how her emergency had gone, and didn’t hear anything back from her.

There was shouting in the hallway, which more than piqued Kevin’s curiosity and he was on his feet and at the lab door in an instant. When he opened the door, Anna was shouting obscenities which would have been unbelievably humorous if it weren’t for the situation. Anna had always seemed like a good Christian girl with strong morals and a polite tongue. Her eyes locked onto Kevin as did the eyes of the dark skinned man holding her handcuffed hands behind her back. “Kevin!”

“Mr. Tran, if you could return to your lab,” Uriel said.

Kevin looked at Anna and then Uriel. “Um…that’s my boss.”

“If you could _please_ return to your lab,” Uriel said, a little harder.

Kevin didn’t move. Anna was the one person that he’d been close to, the person he’d spent more time with than anyone else. “Look, Naomi was looking for her just a few hours ago and-“

“Naomi is aware of the situation,” Uriel said. “Now, if you would return to your lab.”

Kevin ignored the request and stepped out into the hallway, only to be physically pushed back to the door by a couple of suit wearing goons when he got too close to Anna. Her eyes screamed of the fear she was feeling but she quietly said, “Kevin, just go back to the lab. It’s alright.”

She’d been caught. There was nothing alright about any of this.

“Anna-“

“Kevin, go to the lab,” Anna ordered.            

Kevin hesitated for only a moment more and then nodded. He returned to the lab and the door closed behind him, a moment of silence, and then footsteps leading away from the lab.

But the real trouble came the following morning. Kevin had waited up late, and then later and later, trying to wait out Anna's return to the lab. Instead of going home, Kevin finally fell asleep at his desk around one in the morning. And he was startled awake, the faint imprint of the ‘m’ on his keyboard pressed into his cheek, when the door slid open and Naomi walked inside. She moved around the lab, looking for something, before Kevin spoke up. “Ma’am?”

Naomi’s head snapped towards him. “Mr. Tran, what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Dr Milton,” Kevin said.

“Dr Milton will not be returning,” Naomi said, and the tone of her voice made it sound like that was a permanent change. Her eyes scanned the lab again and then returned to Kevin. “How long have you been training under Dr Milton?”

“Two years,” Kevin replied.

Naomi nodded. “I have a programming issue. I was looking for the diagnostic software but you should be able to determine the issue much faster. Follow me.”

Kevin stood hesitantly, smoothed out the wrinkles in his t-shirt, and then slowly followed Naomi out of the lab.

Naomi looked at him out of the side of her eyes and huffed. “Wipe your cheek. You have an….an M on it.”

“An M?” Kevin asked, brushing the tips of his fingers over his cheek and feeling the slight indent. He quickly rubbed the skin. “Right. Sorry.”

Their path led down several long hallways and down a flight of stairs. Kevin, who had almost unlimited access to the building but rarely strayed out of the lab, began to recognize the path towards the imprinting labs. A dark, unnerving feeling settled in his stomach and Kevin stole a glance at Naomi’s face. The woman showed no emotion, but why would she? Imprinting was what the company did. Kevin picked up the pace to keep with her.

They stopped at a metal door with a plaque that read Imprinting and Naomi put her hand over a biometric scanner until the red light turned green. The door clicked open and Naomi held it open for them to step inside. Kevin’s eyes fell on Anna. “Dr Milton!”

Anna, his employer, his mentor, and his friend, was restrained in a chair that gave Kevin vague flashbacks to being a child at the dentist’s office. She looked over at the sound of his voice and her eyes widened. “Naomi, what are you doing?”

“I don’t know what bug you left in the system, Dr Milton, but Mr. Tran will fix it immediately,” Naomi said.

Kevin looked from Anna to Naomi and then to the computer that was flashing an ERROR message on the screen. “Why is she restrained like this?”

“That is not a question you need answered in order to fix the computer, is it Mr. Tran?” Naomi asked.

Kevin frowned. “It’s a question I _want_ answered.”

“Edlund and Sons does not pay you to ask questions.”

Anna pulled on her restraints. “Naomi, this is ridicu-“

“Silence,” the elder woman cut her off. “I have looked upon you fondly, Anna. As a student and as a woman, but this kind of betrayal is unacceptable.” She looked back to Kevin. “Mr. Tran, fix the code immediately.”

“What are you doing to her?” Kevin demanded.

“Dr Milton holds a position that gives her access to highly classified information, top secret innovation, and the private details of several high profile client’s lives. Thanks to our contracts with the government, I have the legal right to take action to prevent the release of that information,” Naomi said, but there was a look in her eyes. This was personal.

Kevin shook his head. “Without a trial?”

“No more questions, Mr. Tran. If you will not help me, I will locate the diagnostic software and discover the problem myself. But I do not see why you would have any issue doing the job that we require of you, unless you were involved in Dr Milton’s betrayal as well,” Naomi said. She cut a dark look to him. “Shall I place _you_ under investigation as well?”

Kevin hesitated but courage weaseled its way into his chest and he took a deep breath to deny her, only to stop when Anna’s quiet voice filled the silence first. “Kevin, just do as she asks.”

The young man turned to her, horrified. Naomi was planning to wipe Anna’s memories, leave her little more than an empty vessel. Surely there was something that could be done. “What?”

Anna closed her eyes and cleared her throat. “Don’t let my mistakes be the reason you end up like…like me.”

Kevin wondered if she meant literally, her so called betrayal ending with her here… or if she meant her mistakes in getting caught up with the power and greed and punishing herself by trying to fix the past. “Anna…”

“Please,” Anna said.

The world settled on Kevin’s shoulders, or at least it felt that way. Really, it was just Naomi’s hand as she gently guided him over to the console and Kevin’s fingers settled on the keyboard.

\---

“Do you have more pain pills?” Dean asked, jolted by the car passing over a pothole.

Castiel looked at him and then shook his head.

Dean frowned and turned to look out of the window, watching as building after building and person after person was passed by. It was a weird sensation, to be in the world but not a part of it. Dean had never realized how not a part of the world he was until he came out of the community. He had come to realize that the little life he’d fostered within the gates of the community was not really a life at all. It was a schedule, a routine. It was waking up and making himself and Sammy breakfast. It was doing what he was told and following rules.

It wasn’t the smile on the girl on the sidewalk's face as Castiel drove past as her hand slid into the hand of the man beside her. “Are normal people all like this?”

“Normal people?” Castiel asked.

Dean motioned to the people on the sidewalks. “Them.”

“You mean people who are not clones,” Castiel said.

Dean snorted. “Yeah, normal people.”

“Normal is relative,” Castiel replied.

Dean shot him a look, bitter, and then looked back out the window. “Maybe that’s easy for you to say, but you’re not the one that was born and bred in a petri dish to be sold like a prize cow.” Ready to be given to the person who can pay the most, used up and then forgotten. Dean clenched his hand into a fist on his lap.

How was that any different from what Alistair had done? Both were using them for their own purposes. Both cared little for what happened to Dean in the process.

“You’re right. I do not understand what that is like. But I do know that even people who are not clones are diverse and unique. It would be… insulting, to call them normal,” Castiel said, and then repeated, “Normal is relative.”

“Sell your ice to a different Eskimo, Cas,” Dean replied.

“Why do you call me that?” Castiel asked.

“What? Cas? Because it’s a shortened version of Castiel and I’m too damn lazy to be pronouncing your name all the time,” Dean said, short and snippy.

Castiel narrowed his gaze on him. “I am aiding you in the search of your brother, Dean, when my duties demand that I take you back now without him. Please treat me with the respect I deserve.”

Dean bristled but nodded stiffly. Still wounded as he was, Dean wasn’t entirely sure that he was up to looking for Sam alone anymore. Dean wasn’t entirely sure he’d _ever_ been up to looking for Sam alone. And Castiel, with his calm and confidence, seemed like he had few problems dragging Dean back to the community without Sam. “Sorry.”

Castiel looked back at the road. “Why do you call me Cas?”

“Has no one ever called you Cas before?” Dean asked.

“Of course they have. It is a shortened version of my name,” Castiel replied.

“Than what’s the issue?” Dean asked.

“Nicknames imply a sense of familiarity that we do not have,” he said.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Sorry.”

“I did not state that I had any issue with it, just that it was unusual,” he said.

Dean sighed. “I don’t know. It makes you seem more human, I guess.”

“I do not seem human?” Castiel asked.

“No,” Dean said, hoping it cut the man as much as he’d intended it to. He looked back out at the people that they passed by. “They seem human. You seem…broken.”

Castiel was silent for a moment and then replied. “Well, then that makes two of us, doesn’t it?”

Dean didn’t know what to say to that.

The rest of the drive was in silence until Castiel pulled up to a little café. Dean grabbed the car door handle and opened the door only for Cas to reach across him and pull the door shut again. Dean arched an eyebrow. “What the hell?”

“You are too impulsive. I am making a strategy,” Castiel replied.

Dean’s eyebrow rose further but he didn’t make any moves to get out. A minute passed. Another. Five more. Dean scoffed and grabbed the door handle again. “This is a waste of time. My brother is out there going through God only knows what and you’re sitting here staring at-“

Castiel pulled the door shut again.

Dean’s jaw twitched. “Would you care to clue me in on the strategy making process? Maybe I could help you.”

Castiel shook his head. “You have very limited experience in anything. Your input would not be beneficial.”

Well, that certainly felt like a slap in the face. “Excuse me, Mr. Holier Than Thou. I didn’t realize that my stupid little clone brain was incapable of being helpful to you.”

Castiel looked surprised by the words. “I didn’t say that.”

“You sure as fuck did,” Dean snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the windshield at the little café. “You know what? Make your stupid fucking plan. But if waiting around and doing nothing costs me my brother, I will….I’ll…”

“Kill me?” Castiel suggested.

Dean latched onto it like a lifesaver. “Damn straight.”

Castiel hummed softly. Bright blue eyes roamed over Dean’s face and then he turned back to the café and motioned to it. “A man named Fergus McLeod owns this café. His street name is Crowley.”

Dean’s eyes lit up in recognition but he said nothing.

“In my search for you, I was kidnapped from this location. Unfortunately, I have – to use a turn of phrase – burned my bridges here. Such a strategy will no longer work. But we must speak to Crowley in order to find a lead to Sam,” Castiel said. “This location will undoubtedly lead to Crowley but I do not know how to get him to see us.”

“Why don’t we just ask?” Dean suggested.

“Ask?”

“Yeah, you know, go in and ask to speak with Crowley,” Dean said. “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line?”

“I fail to see how straight lines correlate to speaking with Crowley,” Castiel said.

Dean’s eyes narrowed a little, like he was trying to figure out if Castiel was messing with him. He shook his head. The nerdy little trench coat wearing dude was serious as shit. “Look, if I get out and try something are you going to slam the door and keep me in here again?”

“Is it dangerous?” Castiel asked. No matter what he agreed to help Dean with, his job was to bring Dean back in as whole as he could manage. Dean had already suffered so many wounds.

“Life is dangerous,” Dean replied, and then quickly opened the car door and stepped out before Castiel could close it on him again.

The security officer watched him for a moment as he walked past the front of the car and then quickly got out of the driver’s side and stepped in line beside him. “I cannot allow harm to befall you, Dean.”

“Then watch my back and shut up,” Dean said. He was holding his left side with his hand and walking slower than he’d like. Maybe they could stop long enough to pick up some more pain pills. Alastair had really done a number on him.

The bell rang as they pushed the door open. A few people looked up at him and Castiel as they walked in. Some of them did a double take, recognizing Dean’s face as that of the eldest son in Edlund and Sons. Dean squashed down the anger and anxiety that stemmed from that and walked between tables to the counter of the café. Castiel’s presence felt like a warm heat behind him. The man at the counter was young, late teens or early twenties, and he looked up with a casual smile before he really saw Dean. “Welcome, how can I help you?”

“I need to speak with Crowley,” Dean said. It had a lot more confidence than he felt.

The teen’s eyes widened and he looked from Dean to the blue eyed man behind him who was glaring at him like he was going to rip his head off with his bare hands should it be necessary. “Let me get you a manager, Mr. Edlund.”

Before Dean could ask him, the teen walked away and disappeared behind a swinging door. He looked at Castiel. “Who?”

“Michael Edlund,” Castiel replied. “Your original.”

“Oh,” Dean said. “Right.”

After a brief pause, a manager came out. He took one look at Dean and his eyes widened. It wasn’t until he saw Castiel that the look deflated. His eyes narrowed on the security officer. “Crowley does not wish to see you, Mr. Novak, nor the clone that you’ve brought with you.”

“This isn’t…it’s not Mr. Edlund?” The teen asked.

The manager turned eyes to the boy and shook his head. “Just the copy.”

Dean hid his wince.

“I hold no ill will towards him. We only wish to speak with him,” Castiel said.

“Crowley will not wish to speak with you,” the manager repeated. “Get out.”

“Look, man, I’m just trying to find my brother and-“

The manager turned eyes to him. “Get out of my café, clone. I couldn’t care less about your brother.”

Dean snapped, reaching across the counter and grabbing the manager’s tie to pull him closer. The manager ended up half bent over the counter and scrambling for purchase in order to push himself back. Dean was having none of it. “Listen here, you asshat. For twenty six years I have been locked up inside of a fucking fifteen foot tall fence and not allowed to hit a real fucking target because I might damage myself in the attempt. And then, when I finally got out, I was passed around like a piece of fucking property until I landed in some psychopath’s lap and _he_ used me as his own personal pin cushion. So all that’s left is a lot of pent up rage that has never gotten release and I’m feeling really, really strong about releasing it right here and right now and all over you. Get me Crowley, now, before I see how far I can shove that espresso machine up your ass.”

The manager froze on the counter, flicked his eyes to the espresso machine, and then looked back to Dean. “I’ll call him, okay? I’ll call him.”

“Don’t take no for an answer,” Dean said, letting go of the man’s tie so that he stumbled back and walked into the fridge. He darted for the swinging door and disappeared once more.

The teen watched the whole thing with wide eyes which moved from the door his boss had just disappeared behind and then over to Dean and Castiel. Dean was back to holding his side. Castiel was grabbing his wallet from the folds of his trench coat. “I’d like to purchase a large black coffee.”

“Excuse me?” The kid squeaked.

Castiel looked up and laid a five on the table. “A coffee, large, please.”

\---

“It’s done,” Kevin said, his voice cracking. The error message disappeared from the screen and the activation prompt returned. He repeated himself louder, clearer. “It’s done.”

Naomi walked over from where she’d been standing by the door and looked over the computer before nodding. “Thank you, Mr. Tran. You may return to the lab or, if you’d prefer, go home.”

“I’d like to stay,” Kevin said softly.

“What?” Naomi asked, distracted as she began inputting codes into the computer to begin activation.

“I’d like to stay,” he repeated. “For Anna…I mean, for Dr Milton. I’d like to stay.”

Naomi turned to him finally, pausing in her typing. “It’s not required.”

“I’m aware. But she is…was…my boss, and a friend,” Kevin said. His back straightened. “I want to stay. Am I allowed?”

“Kevin, it’s not a pleasant experience to watch,” Anna said from where she was.

“I don’t care. I want to be here,” Kevin said.

Naomi’s eyes met his gaze, just as strong and steady as hers, and then replied, “Fine.”

Anna sighed softly but Kevin took a chair from the secondary computer and pulled it over to sit down beside her. She looked at him and the sound of Naomi’s typing filled the silence again. “Kevin, you can go. I would understand.”

“I’m not leaving,” he said. “I’m going to be here for you.”

Anna smiled weakly and then her own fear of being alone, being forgotten overcame her. “Thank you.”

Kevin hesitated and then took her hand. “No problem.”

Lights flickered on, the machine whirred to life, and Kevin did his best to pretend he didn’t notice when both of those made Anna wince. He squeezed her hand gently.

Naomi put in the final activation code, finger hovering over the enter button on the keyboard. “Dr Milton… If it makes a difference, I wish I didn’t have to do this.”

Anna’s eyes hardened. “It doesn’t, Naomi.”

Naomi took it in stride, pressing the enter button.

Anna tensed a little and squeezed Kevin’s hand into a death grip. The dim lights flared to life surrounding Anna’s head. Kevin had never seen the process and watched with equal horror and curiosity. Anna screamed suddenly and somehow, unbelievably, her grip managed to tighten even more. Kevin almost yanked his own hand away but managed to resist the urge.

Anna grew quiet first, and then the machine. The lights dimmed and then went out entirely.

“Anna?” Kevin asked suddenly.

Her eyes opened, looking over the wall in front of her and then turned to Kevin.

He tried again. “Anna?”

“Who is Anna?” she asked softly.

Kevin’s heart sunk in his chest.

\---

Castiel had finished his coffee by the time the limo pulled up outside. The security officer shook his head. “Pompous, isn’t he?”

Dean nodded silently in his agreement.

The café door opened and Crowley stepped inside. Ion, from before, followed closely behind him and he directed a dark and dangerous look to Castiel. Crowley looked at Dean but then turned to Castiel. “I see you found him.”

“Indeed,” Castiel said.

“He looks a little worse for the wear,” Crowley replied.

Dean bared his teeth. “All thanks to you.”

“I barely laid a finger on you,” Crowley denied.

“But you handed me over to him knowing damn well what he was going to do,” Dean said.

Crowley shrugged. “Can’t argue that.”

Dean jolted forward until Castiel grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. “Remember why we’re here, Dean.”

“Yes, Dean. Remember,” Crowley said.

Dean ripped himself out of Castiel’s grasp but didn’t move towards him again. Maybe there would be another chance to get revenge, maybe not, but either way Dean had more important things to deal with. “Do you know where my brother is?”

“No, he does not,” Castiel said.

Crowley snorted.

Dean scowled. “Then why are we even talking to him?”

“Because he may have a lead,” Castiel replied. He turned to Crowley. “Do you?”

“A lead to clone boy’s little clone brother?” Crowley asked. “Maybe.”

Dean stepped forward to give Crowley the same treatment that he’d given the manager.

Crowley put up a hand to stop him. “Cassie knows how this works.”

“How much, Crowley?” Castiel asked.

“Another ten grand,” Crowley said.

Castiel sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and typing in some numbers. “Done.”

“And another one after that to let you walk out of here,” Crowley said, grinning as he checked his phone to verify the transaction.

Castiel scoffed. “I don’t need to pay you in order to pass.”

“Sure about that?” Crowley asked.

“Quite sure,” Castiel replied.

Crowley walked over to a table and snatched a napkin before pulling a pen from the inside of his jacket and scribbling a name and number on it. He handed it to Dean. “Here you go. If anybody knows where the other clone is, it’ll be this guy.”

Dean handed the napkin to Castiel without looking at it. “Ready to go, Cas?”

“More than,” Castiel replied.

Dean followed Cas as the man walked confidently past Crowley and his men towards the door, right up until one of them grabbed him and wrapped their arm around his neck. He choked slightly and wrapped his fingers around the wrist as the man squeezed tighter.

Crowley chuckled. “ _Cas?_ ”

Castiel turned and narrowed his eyes on the man holding Dean. “Release him.”

“I did warn you that you would not pass without paying,” Crowley said. “But if you’d prefer I could always sell him to someone else and make up the money that way.”

“Crowley-“

“Castiel.”

Dean watched indecision cross Castiel’s face and then the man pulled out his phone again. Crowley chuckled. “That’s my boy.”

Dean squeezed the wrist again and then muscle memory kicked in. He’d never done this against another person but the theory could always be put into practice. He bent and flipped his captor over his shoulder, smashing him down into the table where an elderly couple were eating. The table creaked and then snapped, wood cracking as it all tumbled down to the ground. Dean stepped back and looked on as the man groaned and pulled himself to his feet.

Castiel looked at the fallen man and the mess scattered all over the floor, then to Dean, and finally to Crowley before putting his phone away. “As I was saying, I am quite sure that we can pass.”

Crowley’s prideful smile faded and was replaced by a frown. He clicked his fingers and Ion pulled a gun.

Castiel looked around pointedly at Crowley’s terrified customers. “I guarantee that if he pulls that trigger my employers will hear about it. And they will act.”

Crowley frowned harder. “As if you won't set them on me the second you have everything you need.”

A dry sound halfway between a scoff and a laugh came from Castiel and he titled his head, eyes glinting as he did so. “Would you prefer to see what happens when you shoot the only reason I haven't killed you already?”

Crowley sniggered. “Who says the gun's pointed at him? You're stood pretty close together there, you probably couldn't be blamed for the mistake, but Ion is capable of risk evaluation,” he taunted, “And Alistair would probably give me a little extra capital to get his boy toy back.”

“Might be difficult seeing as we left him choking on his own blood,” Dean said with a good amount of satisfaction. “Trust me buddy, you do not want to mess with this guy.”

Castiel hadn't taken his eyes off Crowley and Dean was pretty sure he hadn't blinked.

Crowley didn't show any outward signs of intimidation, but he did wave Ion's arm down. “I'll let you go this once. Take it as a sign of good faith. I don't end your career, you don't end mine. You leave here, you tell no one you were here in the first place.”

Dean’s shoulders straightened and he walked over to Castiel who nodded once at Crowley and turned around. “Have a nice day.”

“Eat shit, asshole,” Dean said.

The bell rang as they walked out.

Castiel climbed into the car first and then Dean. They started it up and began to drive away. Castiel was silent for a long time and Dean just stared out the window. Then the security officer spoke up. “That was impressive.”

“Not really. My technique kind of sucked,” Dean said.

“That would come with practice,” Castiel said. “I was referring to the courage it took to do that.”

Dean adopted a look of surprise and turned to him before managing a stuttering, “Thank you.”

Castiel watched him for a moment more and then turned his eyes back to the road.


	6. Chapter 6

"I can't believe I'm going along with this," Ruby grumbled as they drove the final two miles back to the compound.

The drive previously had been filled with bickering, though Sam was glad that he was left untied and that they were going in the right direction. He'd kept an eye out for all the landmarks he'd seen on the way out and was comfortable that Ruby was keeping her word.

They pulled up still a mile out and Sam wondered why until he saw the camp of people not far away. He followed Ruby out of the car and up the path towards them.

"Sister Mary Catherine!" A voice chimed up as they neared. A young woman with an overeager expression and a blouse buttoned all the way up her throat ran over.

"Abigail," Ruby greeted with a smile.

Sam looked at Ruby.

Ruby looked right back, her mouth twitching up in barely restrained amusement. "This is Peter, an associate from the Church. He's here to help me with a very special mission," She explained to the girl, showing absolutely no signs of lying. After the time he'd spent with her, Sam was honestly worried she was deep into the APD spectrum, right bang smack where the word sociopath was once used.

"Oh! I'm glad to meet you," Abigail said excitedly, reaching out to shake his hand.

Hesitantly, Sam took it. "And you."

"We need to speak to your mother and father," Ruby told the girl.

"Of course!" Abigail nodded and led the way back over to the group.

As they got even closer, Sam could make out protest signs sticking up from the ground around the camp. He read a few slogans while Ruby chatted with her little friend. The first he could make out read 'Only God Creates Life', the second 'We Will Not Suffer Abominations to Live'. The rest all seemed to be along the same lines, some interspersed with Bible verses that Sam wasn't even certain applied.

Abigail's parents were a smiling couple who were overly friendly to the point Sam didn't feel he could refuse their homemade cookies when offered. Their wide, toothpaste smiles gave him the creeps.

"How can we help with the Church's mission today?" Abigail's mother offered, voice chirpy as her daughter's if somewhat less excited.

Ruby smiled gently in return. "We need to get inside. I know it hasn't been long at all since the last time you helped me, but we have reason to believe one of God's blessed flock is being detained inside."

"How terrible!" Abigail and her mother both looked genuinely alarmed.

Her father just nodded. "We knew it would only be a matter of time until they came for us. What do you need?"

"A distraction. We need as many of their guards in one place as possible, and we'll need a secondary distraction to draw attention if they show signs of suspecting anything," Ruby answered immediately. "We can handle getting inside, but we need to remain undiscovered until we find who we're looking for."

He nodded again, "We'll give you as long as we can. Give us a couple of hours to call everyone together and say some prayers for you."

Ruby patted him on the knee, "Thank you. But were hoping to grab some sleep before we started, it's been a long drive."

“Of course, make yourself at home,” Abigail's mother chirped. “We'll hold the prayer circle in the morning.”

With that Ruby led the way back out to the car where she started rummaging in her bag and the glove box.

"Sister Mary Catherine?" Sam questioned once they were out of earshot.

Ruby grinned.

"You're not even gonna try to explain that one?" He said after pausing for her to answer.

She didn't even look up from what she was doing. "You're a smart boy, I'm sure you've got it all figured out already."

"You pretended to be a nun on secret missions from the church to take out the evil Abomination Factory," Sam answered, "Yeah, I got that. Why a nun? And how?"

Ruby shrugged. "Too worried I'd be tempted to make out with their daughters out of habit if I tried the Christian School Girl routine instead? I dunno, it was the first thing that popped into my head. And I have contacts who vouched for me. Whatever. It worked is all that matters."

Sam forcibly shook the mental image of Ruby seducing good Christian girls from his head and tried to see what she was doing. In the end he gave up. On both accounts.

A few moments later, Ruby withdrew from the car with her bag done up again and a Red Vine in one hand and a gun in the other. She stuck the end of the candy in her mouth while she examined a gun.

“So how are we getting in?” Sam asked when she tucked the gun in her jeans and leaned back against the car to finish her candy.

She pulled of a piece with her teeth and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before answering. “I was thinking through the fire exit through the labs this time.”

Sam frowned. “Fire exit?”

“There's always an emergency exit built in that doesn't need electricity to get out of. Unfortunately they are built for people to get out of, not in. But still,” Another bite, some more chewing, “We might be able to catch someone taking a smoke break.”

“Seriously?” Sam couldn't believe anyone would be that careless.

Ruby laughed, “It's their own fault. They don't allow smoking inside the compound in case it contaminates material or a clone gets a breath of second hand smoke. People still do it though, and the best way not to get caught...”

Sam sighed. “Is to stand outside the fire exit. Not even technically inside the compound.”

Ruby nodded. “Of course, there are still security cameras, but I checked them out last time and a couple were conveniently broken around a patch of cigarette stubs. Gotta love disgruntled employees. They do half the job for you.”

“So our plan is to wait around outside until someone comes out for a cigarette, then slip inside before the door closes?” Sam concluded.

“Pretty much. We'll signal the lovely Wick family before we actually go in, let them know to start the diversion. While they get some eyes on them, we'll sneak through hopefully unnoticed until after we're gone.” Ruby confirmed.

“What about the security cameras inside?” Sam pointed out.

Ruby laughed. “Trust me, inside the labs the cameras are the least of our worries. The few that actually work are mostly focused on medical areas to monitor clones. The rest are conveniently badly placed. Michael's lot don't often break the law, but they like to do things they wouldn't want recorded.” She shoved the remaining candy in her mouth and started walking. Then stopped. “Can I trust you not to shoot me in the back now I'm helping you rescue your brother?”

Sam nodded cautiously.

Ruby slid her bag from her shoulder and dug inside for a brief moment, pulling out a smaller caliber gun than her own and holding it out to him. “Only use this if you _really_ have to. You don't have enough experience with one to make it an asset otherwise. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Ruby walked away again and Sam easily caught up in a few long strides.

After a few hours of sleep in a caravan that looked and smelled like it'd had a rough journey from the seventies, and a slightly disturbing prayer circle, Sam and Ruby made their way up towards the compound with Ruby leading the way in stop-starts and zig-zags to avoid being seen as they approached. The next half an hour was spent sat against a wall waiting for someone to exit the building, Ruby holding her gun, Sam holding her phone ready to press send on a message to alert the protesters.

“So what's your brother usually doing this time of day?” Ruby asked during the wait.

Sam shrugged, “I dunno, I don't really pay much attention. Plus with me missing, he wouldn't stick to a routine even if he had one.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Helpful. I guess we'll just start where you both live then.” She thunked her head back against the wall. “God! Who the hell are these people? I would've been out here by now. Job like that? I'd be out here every twenty minutes.”

“You smoke?” Sam asked warily. He really hoped she wasn't going to light up next to him any time soon. The smell made him feel sick. The nearby discarded cigarettes were bad enough.

“Not anymore,” Ruby reassured him, “Don't worry, I'm not gonna ruin your precious clone lungs.”

Sam nodded and stared at the fire exit. It didn't look like it could possibly be used casually. It was solid, heavy steel with a pretty much airtight seal around it. It looked like a smooth panel rather than a door. Only the cigarette butts scattered on the floor all around the door gave any clue that it was ever actually used.

The first sign they had to get ready was the dull clanging of the door's locks, and Sam glanced at Ruby before pressing send on the text.

A moment later, just as the door swung open, protest chants and angry shouts sounded in the near distance. The workers came out with weary faces and tired laughs, wedging something under the door to let them get back inside when they were ready.

“Hey guys,” Ruby said conversationally, gun having disappeared beneath her jacket before the door had finished opening, “Thank God you came out here, the door shut on us.”

The workers, two men and a woman all in their early thirties, didn't look convinced.

Ruby stood and made to enter the building.

“Where's your ID badge?” The man asked.

Ruby laughed, “Did I forget to put it back on?” She rummaged in her pockets a moment before producing a plastic rectangle with her picture and the name 'Fifi Jenkins' printed on it.

“Why didn't you just go 'round the front?” One of the women squinted at the card.

“Because Leonard here left his badge inside like an idiot,” Ruby gave a friendly smile, “Threw it on his desk after hearing about his performance review. Didn't remember to pick it up. He's an idiot, but what can you do? He always gets the best smokes and I'm fresh out.”

Sam scowled at her as the part presumably demanded, feeling more confused and nervous than offended on 'Leonard's behalf.

The man rolled his eyes and made a disgusted noise, “Ugh! Those performance reviews! Naomi is such a bitch, she cites you for yawing on shift. Metatron would never have implemented that no small talk in the labs rule. And safety goggles for everyone in there? Pretty sure I don't need plastic over my eyes at all times to read spread sheets.”

“Right?” Ruby agreed. “Next she'll give us a uniform, just you wait.”

All three pulled faces as they pulled out cigarettes, clearly much more at ease.

Ruby glanced at Sam, “Anyway, gotta get back, we're already late. And Lenny, you are totally buying me alcohol later for all this.”

Sam rolled his eyes and followed her inside.

Once they were safely around a corner and out of earshot, Sam shot Ruby a shocked look. “This is supposed to be a secure facility! And they just let us in like that!”

Ruby shrugged. “To be fair my badge is pretty convincing. I've had it a little while and the only thing it doesn't work on is the actual locks. People are easy.”

Sam shook his head and looked back down the corridor. “I don't know my way around the labs, the only bit we go into is at the front. The med labs.”

“S'fine, I've seen the floor plans,” Ruby reassured him and took a left.

Fifteen minutes later and they were circling around, Ruby looking more and more frustrated as time went on.

“So, those floor plans. You sure they were for this lab?” Sam asked almost casually, only a slight sharpness to his tone to indicate his annoyance.

“Yes!” Ruby snapped, “They were definitely for this lab, and I studied them for three hours straight. I don't understand! We should have been at the exit three corners ago.”

“Maybe they did some remodeling,” Sam said lightly, “Some major remodeling where they completely restructured the halls.”

Ruby shoved him in the shoulder hard enough to make him stagger a little. She stopped and looked at the big doors on either side of them. “Wait, I think I know where we are. That door should be the holding rooms,” She gestured to the left hand door. “Let's check it out and see if I'm right.”

“How? The doors are locked and you said your pass doesn't work on them,” Sam pointed out.

“Oh ye of little faith,” Ruby smirked and sauntered up to the doors, pressing the buzzer to the side and waiting for the crackle that said someone was on the other end.

“Yes?” A young male voice sounded on the other end.

“We got a blank one. Naomi said to put him in holding until she can find his file and reprogram,” Ruby said, she paused a moment to push Sam in front of the small camera on the intercom. “I've been babysitting him for two hours while the techs searched but apparently there's a glitch. They can't find him. And I'm not being funny, but seriously? How do you lose a whole personality file? Isn't there supposed to be a system? And there's a whole search option on the computers, I mean-”

“Alright, sure, bring him in,” The voice cut off Ruby's rambling impatiently and the door made a solid clicking sound.

Ruby turned and gave Sam a smug smile before opening the door and going through.

They walked slowly up the corridors.

“Why are we in here? We already know it's holding,” Sam muttered, impatient to be out finding Dean.

“One, because if I'm right about where we are, the fastest way to get out is the other end of holding,” Ruby explained, peering curiously through the small reinforced windows in the doors on either side as they went past. “And two, there is a chance that Dean's in here. I mean, they'll know you're missing by now and they'll want to be extra careful with anyone connected to you. He could be in here while they question him, or because they're worried you ran away and he'll follow, or just because they're more uptight about security and he's the most valuable clone here.”

Sam swallowed and started checking windows.

About halfway down they were met with a short guy with a taser and a scared but determined expression.

Sam raised his eyebrows at Ruby, “You were saying something about my lack of faith?”

“Shut up,” Ruby muttered petulantly.

“Who are you?” The young man asked. “And what're you doing with zero-two?”

Ruby tilted her head a little before grinning. “I'm Ruby. And we're here to get Sam's big brother.”

Sam's eyes widened. “Ruby!”

She rolled her eyes, “Relax Sam. He's not supposed to be here either. If he was, he'd have called security instead of coming out to greet us himself.” She turned to the guy in question. “Who are you?”

He seemed to deliberate a moment before answering. He didn't lower the taser. “Kevin. And you're right, I'm not supposed to be here. But don't even think about trying anything. I can come up with something not too damning for why I'm here, but you guys? You're screwed as soon as I sound the alarm.”

Ruby nodded in agreement but she was still smiling. “Alright, no funny stuff. So what are you doing down here?”

Kevin looked between Sam and Ruby a couple of times. “How did you get him out?”

Ruby laughed. “Your security really isn't that secure. I caught him running near the fence, got him to come to me. The rest is avoiding security and cameras. A couple trip wires. Nothing all that effective. Even those bible bashers out there have managed to get close a few times.”

“And you're here to get Zero-one out as well?” Kevin asked.

“Yep, if you could give us some directions that'd be great,” Ruby said cheerily. “Now how about you? Don't think I didn't notice you avoiding the question.”

“You can get them safe away from here?” Kevin continued his questioning, ignoring Ruby's own question for a second time.

Ruby's smile twitched with annoyance. “Absolutely.”

Kevin glanced back down the corridor. “I'll tell you where Zero-one is and I'll let you go.”

Ruby's eyes narrowed. “And?”

“And you'll help me with something,” Kevin raised his chin and met Ruby's eyes. “Double cross me and I'll help them find you. And then I'll wipe you myself.”

Ruby looked a little impressed. “That's a big threat for such a little dude.”

“Smart dude,” Kevin corrected. “I don't make threats I can't live up to.”

“So what do you want us to do?” Ruby asked after a moment.

Kevin hesitated but then set his shoulders. “Follow me.”

He walked a short way down the corridor and stopped in front of one of the doors. Looking through the small window Sam could see a pretty redhead staring vacantly at the wall.

“This is Anna,” Kevin explained, “You're going to take her with you and deliver her to a location I'll disclose once you're out.”

Ruby looked slightly admiringly at Kevin. “So that's why you were down here. Rescuing your girlfriend. Brave kid.”

Kevin pulled a face. “She's my boss. Was my boss.”

“So, how do we get her out of the padded room?” Ruby tapped absently at the window.

“I, um, I stole the key,” Kevin admitted and unlocked the door. He entered the room, keeping his eyes on Ruby until she followed him in. “Anna?”

The redhead looked up with a puzzled smile.

Kevin took her hand and pulled her gently to her feet. “This is Ruby and Sam, they're gonna get you out of here and take you somewhere safe.”

“I am safe,” Anna murmured happily.

Kevin sighed, “Come on, let's get out of here.”

Out in the corridor Ruby stopped. “So where's Dean?”

Kevin avoided her eyes. “Follow me.”

Ruby looked suspicious but they did as they were asked until they came to a hallway they recognized.

Sam grabbed Kevin's arm. “This is the way we came in. Why did you take us here?” Sam grunted in frustration when Kevin didn't answer. “Come on! We had a deal, now tell me where my brother is.”

Kevin looked between them both. “He's not here.”

“What?!” Sam all but yelled.

“Shhh!” Kevin and Ruby both urged.

“Where is he then?” Sam asked, voice a little lower.

“We don't know. Last we knew, the security officer who was sent to track him down went dark on his way to question some guy called Crowley. We're assuming Crowley has him,” Kevin admitted. “Look, I've read Crowley's file. He's a scary guy, but he's open to negotiation. Go in there with the right offer and he'll give you your brother.”

Ruby rolled her eyes for the hundredth time that day and took Anna's hand from Kevin's. “Okay, we'll take it from here then. But you now owe us. They deal was safe passage and Dean. No Dean means no deal. The lovely Anna will be staying with us while we look for him, and you'd better answer the phone when we need you.”

Kevin nodded frantically, knowing he'd got off lightly. “Yeah, sure. Just... Look after her?”

Sam relented. “We will.”

Kevin breathed out and pulled out a mobile phone. “Okay, what number should I contact you on?”

Ruby took out her own phone and they exchanged numbers.

Five minutes later they were heading out of the fire escape and making their way back to the protester's camp.


	7. Chapter 7

“I fucking hate Crowley!” Ruby exploded once they were safely back on the road, good wishes and another prayer circle for Anna's recovery behind them. “Why did it have to be that dick bag? Why not Bela? I like Bela. She's awesome.”

“Who the hell is Bela?” Sam asked.

Ruby waved a hand dismissively. “This chick I know. We wouldn't have had to spend a dime. She's smart, knows what's good for her.”

“And Crowley doesn't?” Sam felt completely lost. He'd never even heard of these people before.

Ruby shrugged. “I guess, but he's way more interested in deals than in common sense. He'll try to charge us an arm and a leg just for info on Dean, 'cause you can bet your ass he's already sold him. Merch that hot needs moving fast and he knows it. Damn it!” She slammed her hands on the steering wheel. “This is turning out to be way too much of a wild goose chase. Lucifer is not gonna be happy.”

Anna started humming.

“Jesus Christ!” Ruby snapped, “Will you please shut little miss mind-fuck up? That's annoying as fuck!”

Sam glared, “Don't call her that.”

“Why not? It's not like she cares,” Ruby replied. “Christ, I'd kill for a cigarette right now.”

Sam reached back and handed Anna a candy bar from Ruby's stash. She stopped humming in favor of eating.

“Hey! That's mine!” Ruby complained.

Sam shrugged. “You told me to shut her up.”

Ruby grumbled under her breath and reached for the car radio. She tuned into some station playing angry girl music and left it there. Sam kept his mouth shut.

An hour later Ruby frowned into the rear view mirror. “Is it just me or is that car awfully close to our ass?”

Sam twisted in his seat to see. The car behind them was tailgating them dangerously and the guy behind the wheel looked none too friendly.

“Hang on,” Ruby warned, before pulling sharply to the left. The car behind them overshot a little, then slammed to a halt.

“What are you doing?” Sam yelled.

Ruby stepped on the brakes and rolled to a stop just short of where the other car was now blocking the road.

\---

Gadreel kept his eyes on the target as he exited the car, Hannah close on his heels. He drew his gun while Hannah drew her taser. His target was the kidnapper, hers was Zero-two. Anna wouldn't need subduing.

\---

Ruby drew a small black device with a row of switches on the side from her bag and handed it to Sam. “When I tell you to, open the car door and flick the yellow switch. Leave it running for five seconds, then flick it back. Five seconds only or our little friend in the backseat becomes a babbling mess. Got it?”

Sam nodded.

Ruby stuffed a pair of noise cancelling headphones on, staring intently out of the windscreen. When the two security officer's got close she turned to Sam. “Now.”

Sam threw open the car door and stumbled out, flicking the switch and wincing as a piercing noise sounded loud enough to be heard over simultaneous screams from both the security officers and Anna. He counted in his head, barely able to hear himself think, then flicked the switch back and fell back into the car. He nodded to Ruby's questioning eyebrow and she took off the headphones, only waiting for Sam to buckle up and close the car door again before swerving off the road and driving around the security officer's car.

The security officers themselves were still on their knees when they went out of view.

Once the ringing in his ears had stopped, Sam looked back to check on Anna, who was curled up in the backseat, rocking herself and sobbing softly. He turned back to Ruby. “What the hell was that?”

“Something I got from Bela. The frequency scrambles imprints and programming. Five seconds won't do much damage, but we still might need Anna's little boyfriend and we couldn't risk injuring her too much,” Ruby glanced back at Anna. “She'll be fine in about fifteen minutes. As for the asshats back there, thanks to you for risking your life like an idiot and getting all the way out of the car, they were a bit closer to the source. Not to mention, Anna wasn't programmed, she was wiped. Not much left to scramble. Can't tell how much damage it'll do them but we can hope for a lot.”

“How'd you know they were programmed?” Sam asked, thinking of Bobby.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “Soldier boys and girls like them? You can tell just by looking, they have these creepy blank stares. Besides, their big guns are always programmed. It's easier than brainwashing and years of training. Sometimes they've even been through a few clones themselves. Saves on recruiting.”

Anna was still whimpering in the back, though softer now.

“Why didn't you give her the headphones?” Sam asked.

Ruby gave him an amused look. “You mean and try to drive with my ears ringing and my balance shot? Think you could've got behind the wheel straight after you set that thing off?”

Sam reached into the back to grab Anna's hand. “I guess not.”

The moment his hand touched her, Anna's head shot up. “Help me!” She shrieked, “It's too important, we nearly have it!”

Sam and Ruby exchanged freaked out looks.

Ruby made a shushing noise, “Don't worry sweetie, we're helping you. Why don't you go to sleep for a little while?”

Anna looked at her with perfect clarity and determination for one solid moment, then her gaze went fuzzy and she went back to her curled up position.

“Wow, I guess they didn't wipe her properly,” Ruby said quietly once Anna was settled again.

“Could it have been your thingy?” Sam asked.

Ruby snorted. “My thingy? Well, Bela called it a frequency bomb but I like your name better,” She shook her head in laughter, “But no. It's possible it could shake something loose if she was just crappily wallpapered over, but if she's been wiped there shouldn't be anything there _to_ shake loose.”

Sam shifted. “You think Kevin had something to do with that? Like, maybe there's still some of her in there.”

Ruby looked thoughtful. “Maybe.”

\---

Ruby pulled up in a park. She pulled out some lipstick and her gun from her bag and handed Sam the keys. “Take Anna around the park while I'm gone. Maybe a walk will chill her out.”

For the last hour Anna had been growing increasingly restless, looking around and making frustrated noises as if she was trying very hard to remember something.

Sam gave Ruby a startled look. “What?”

Ruby raised her eyebrows. “You didn't think I was bringing you two along with me to meet Crowley, did you?”

“But-”

“But nothing,” Ruby cut him off, “She needs someone to watch her and I can't take you with me when you get so emotional about Dean. As it is, I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do to Lucifer regarding my expenses. Crowley would take one look at you and your brotherly desperation and the price would triple.”

Sam scowled.

“Plus how do I know you won't ditch me as soon as we get the info? I know you're only sticking around 'cause I'm your best chance at finding Dean, I'm not gonna give up my only advantage,” Ruby added.

Sam scowled harder.

“Aww, don't sulk,” Ruby stuck her bottom lip out in a mocking pout. “You'll get your part of the action. If I'm not back in forty minutes you're going to take the car to this address,” She handed him a slip of paper, “And be my getaway driver. But if I catch you hanging around before time, you're gonna spend the rest of this trip in the trunk, deal or no deal.”

Sam needed only to meet her eyes to know that despite her joking tone, she was deadly serious about that last part. Going to Crowley's place was not an option. “Fine. I'll babysit Anna. But you share the info with me the moment you get back.”

Ruby sighed. “Fine.”

The all exited the car, Sam going to stand near Anna while Ruby shrugged her jacket back on to cover the gun in her waistband. She started to walk away and something in Sam panicked. This would be the first time he'd been without her since leaving the compound.

“Ruby,” He called after her.

She stopped. “What?”

“Just...” He racked his brains but couldn't find anything to say other than, “Stay safe.”

She smiled and winked. “No promises.”

Sam checked the piece of paper she'd handed him, mentally noting the address and directions written on it. He checked his watch for the time and led Anna off towards the trees.

\---

Dean looked at the piece of paper in his hands while Castiel dialed the number. The more time passed the further he felt from his brother and it scared the crap out of him. In all honesty he was far too happy to let Cas take the lead on this. All too happy to have Cas at all, despite what it meant for his future.

“Is this Garth?” Castiel asked as the phone was picked up on the other end.

Dean straightened in his seat in recognition at the name and studied Cas's face for clues on the conversation.

“We need help finding someone. A clone. His brother is looking for him,” Cas explained to this Garth guy. “Of course,” He said after a pause. He held the phone out to Dean. “He wants to speak to Sam's brother. He's suspicious.”

Dean licked his lips and took the phone. “Hello?”

“Heya,” A cheerful, slightly goofy, and above all familiar voice responded. “This the clone's brother? Does that make you a clone too?”

“Um, yes on both accounts. It's... it's Dean,” Dean answered, eyes flicking to Cas's impassive gaze. He didn't think Cas knew Garth was a security officer. “I need to know where Sam is and I was told you were the guy to ask.”

Garth hummed. “Well, I do have some pretty cool resources with my job and my side job. Where abouts are you?”

Dean struggled for a moment, “I, uh, I dunno. I've not been... I don't really know where anything is. Can you talk to Cas again?”

Castiel took the phone back and discussed a meeting place with Garth. A few minutes later they were on the road again.

\---

Sam looked at his watch again and breathed out his impatience. “Anna, come on. Time to go.”

Anna was on the swings, giggling like a small child.

He caught the chains and brought her to a gentle stop. She looked serenely up at him and didn't protest as he led her back to the car.

It took less than five minutes to reach the address Ruby had given him. He pulled up on the opposite side of the road but kept the engine running, his eyes on the big glass windows, waiting for movement.

He didn't have long to wait. Some loud bangs and crashes followed by yells of anger and a few of pain, preceded Ruby's exit. She came running out and threw herself into the passenger seat. A short man in an expensive looking suit followed her out.

“And you can tell all your deviant friends that I'm not the bloody missing persons department!” The man shouted after them as Sam drove off as quickly as he dared.

Ruby gave a breathy laugh. “Well, I know where your brother is headed.”

Sam grinned. “So where to?”

Ruby gestured down a side street. “We'll get a little away from Crowley and then I'll get back behind the wheel.”

Sam's grin dropped but he didn't argue.

“According to Crowley, Dean is with a security officer headed to meet with a rebel leader to find out where the hell you are,” Ruby said gleefully. “Can you believe it? We're chasing them as they try to chase us. But luckily Crowley is an untrustworthy bastard and Dean's little friend is an idiot, which bodes well for us. Crowley bugged the guy's phone. We got the meet up location. You'll have your beloved big bro in your arms in a handful of hours.”

Sam's grin began to edge back. “We're really going to see him?”

Ruby grinned back. “We really are.”

\---

“Cas?” Dean asked as they got steadily closer to their destination. “What if this guy doesn't know anything?”

Castiel didn't take his eyes off the road. “Then we'll find another way.”

Dean hesitated before deciding to bite the bullet. “Why are you helping me?”

Castiel met Dean's eye this time, if only for a moment. “We made a deal. We find Sam, we go back.”

“Yeah, and I'm still kind of confused on why you didn't just drag me back without him,” Dean took a breath. “Is it because of what Alistair did? You want me to heal up so they don't see what a naughty boy I've been before we get back? So I'm not as broken by the time they see me?”

Castiel's hands gripped the wheel tighter. “What Alistair did was not your fault. You did nothing wrong.”

“I broke out and ran off on my own,” Dean argued.

Castiel's eyes narrowed. He had his doubts about Dean being on his own. “To find your brother. That's not 'naughty' it is...” He searched for the right word for a moment before settling on, “Admirable. You showed courage in coming out here to find him. And to keep looking after what you went through.”

Dean looked away, “Yeah, well fat lot of good I did looking on my own. You guys would probably found him faster if I hadn't made you split your resources.”

“Possibly,” Castiel admitted.

Dean grinned a little brokenly. “Way to make me feel better, Cas.”

Castiel's mouth flickered in what could have been a smile before he looked away. “I wasn't attempting to make you feel better, I was merely stating fact.”

Dean laughed. “Face it buddy, you like me and you don't like it when I'm sad.”

“I wasn't aware you were sad,” Cas retorted.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm onto you,” Dean teased. The amazing thing was he actually did feel better.

\---

Dean fell back onto the motel bed feeling like he hadn't slept in years, although barely three days had passed since Sam had first disappeared and between all the times he'd been knocked out and however long he was unconscious while Cas took care of him after Alistair, he'd definitely had a good few hours of being dead to the world.

“So what time is he getting here?” Dean asked as Cas stripped off his trench coat. Dean tried not to think about how Cas looked weirdly taller without it.

“Not until morning,” Cas replied. “He's got a longer way to go than we did.”

Dean made a concerted effort not to make a dirty joke about ways to pass the time and reached for the remote control to turn on the small TV. He was tired but he was also highly strung, his feet tapping thin air and shoulders tense.

“You should get some rest,” Castiel told him, “You've not had nearly enough.”

“What I need is some pizza and a Doctor Sexy marathon. Or Star Trek. I dunno though, I've got my own Mister Spock now. No need for the fictional one,” Dean rambled mostly to himself.

“Who is Mister Spock?” Castiel asked, a puzzled expression showing in the crease between his eyebrows.

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Have you been living under a rock your whole life?”

Castiel drew inwards defensively. “My parents preferred educational television.”

“And you? What do you prefer?” Dean asked.

“I'm generally too busy for television. I like to read,” Castiel answered, still looking defensive, “I can take a book anywhere I need to go.”

Dean just looked at him. “Alright then, it's settled. We'll order some pizza and see if we can get movie rentals on your computer.”

“My computer is company property. It's not for leisure use,” Cas argued, but it lacked conviction.

Dean chuckled a little to himself and reached for the take-away menus the motel management had helpfully left on the bedside cabinet.  “Please tell me you've at least had pizza before?”

Castiel gave Dean a judgmental look. “Everyone's had pizza before.”

“Everyone's heard of Star Trek before,” Dean challenged.

“I have heard of it, I've just never watched it,” Castiel argued.

One pizza and a frustrating battle with Cas's laptop's firewalls later and Dean was ready to call it quits. “Okay, so we'll have to hold off on the Star Trek for now. But you have to promise me, no matter what happens, you will see it one day.”

Castiel nodded, faintly amused. “Very well, Dean.”

Dean yawned and stretched.

“You should really get some rest,” Cas insisted.

Dean pulled a face. “I'm good thanks.”

Cas sighed in exasperation. “Do I need to tranquillize you?”

Dean narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn't.”

“It's my job to ensure your well being. Right now you need rest, so it is my job to ensure that you get that rest,” Castiel explained patiently. His face gave nothing away but Dean was sure the bastard was laughing at him.

“Fine,” Dean grumbled and wriggled his way under the covers on one of the beds. He closed his eyes as Cas turned off the lights but they sprung open again a moment later. “Cas?”

“Yes?”

Dean's hands clenched. “What'll happen to me when we get back?”

Castiel paused, trying and failing to find a comforting answer. “Most likely they will want to keep you in confinement until you come of age.”

“And then I'll have my mind wiped and your boss will use my body as a meat suit,” Dean muttered bitterly. He took a breath. “I know-” He forcibly stopped himself but the words built in his throat until he spoke again. “I know there's no way out of this for me. I do. But do you think maybe, I dunno, we could take a road trip or something before we go back?”

Cas frowned in the dark. “A road trip?”

Dean sighed. “I just wanna experience the world some before I... You know. I want to see the sights and eat truck stop burgers and go to a concert. I want to live my life for whatever time I've got left.”

The silence in the room seemed as good an answer as he was going to get, and Dean sighed and shifted in bed, trying to relax and get comfortable.

“My employers will assume that I'm dead by now. I have yet to fix or replace my tracker,” Castiel's voice broke the stillness a good time later, long after Dean had given up on him answering verbally. “We have time.”

A sob threatened to force its way from Dean's throat and he swallowed against it. “Thank you.”

\---

The next morning they headed out bright and early to the meet up spot. It was a diner a little way out from town and Dean grinned as he prepared to tick truck stop burgers off his bucket list. It was close enough anyway.

“Are you eating burgers for breakfast?” Castiel asked disapprovingly after Dean ordered.

“Hell yes,” Dean grinned back.

Cas's mouth twitched in what Dean was beginning to recognize as a smile.

Dean took it as encouragement, “Better than your boring toast. I mean come on! You couldn't have ordered waffles or bacon or something? Just toast? Really?”

“I don't require anything else,” Cas answered steadily.

“Come on, man. Live a little!” Dean slid the menu back over to Cas, “Do it for a dying man.”

Cas looked extremely close to rolling his eyes. “You are not dying, Dean.”

Dean actually did roll his eyes, “Not technically. But I'm on borrowed time here.” He tapped the menu. “Just order some bacon and eggs or something.”

A brief staring match ensued before Castiel relented and waved over the waitress to add to their order. Dean had to fight to keep in a whoop of triumph at the victory.

Sometime later a troubled frown settled on Cas's face. “You won't actually die you know. They aren't going to kill you.”

Dean met his eyes. “What would you call it then?”

Cas looked away.

“They're going to erase everything that makes me me and replace it with your boss. Not much difference between that and killing me the way I see it,” Dean told him when he didn't answer. “Even more thorough in a way. If I had a soul they'd basically be deleting it. No hell below us, above us only sky. No afterlife for me.”

Cas took to staring out of the window.

“Hey dude, quit it,” Dean said after a few minutes had gone by, “You don't get to zone out on me just 'cause I brought up my inevitable doom. You're the one taking me back there. Now tell me where we should go on our road trip.”

Cas sighed but turned back to his companion. “How should I know? It's you that wants a road trip.”

Dean scoffed. “Yeah, but I know nothing about the world. Never learned geography, and now I think about it that should have rung some alarm bells, but there you go. Point is, no knowledge of the world outside of TV. You're the one who gets to be out here, there must be places you like.”

Cas shrugged. “I spend most of my time at work.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “Man, you're boring.”

“But there are a few places I enjoy,” Castiel continued with a glare.

“You know what? On second thoughts don't bother. I don't wanna end up spending my last few days in libraries and museums,” Dean teased.

Cas continued glaring but remained silent as their food arrived.

Dean was pondering which pie to order when a brunette sat down at their table, giving them both a long, considering look.

“So,” She turned to Dean first, “I guess that settles that you are who you say you are given you look just like your sonofabitch original. But you,” She turned to Cas, “I don't know who the hell you are.”

“And who the hell are you?” Dean asked.

“Pamela,” Pamela introduced herself, “And that's all I'm telling you until I get a name on the guy and a reason he's here.”

Castiel met her gaze coolly. “I'm here to help Dean locate his brother.”

Pamela nodded. “And then what?”

Cas didn't answer.

She nodded again. “That's what I thought. Well, see ya.” She stood up and started to leave.

“Wait,” Dean called after her, a little too loudly. Several heads turned in their direction. He ignored them. “You gotta help me find him. Please, I got nowhere else to look.”

Pamela came back over to the table but didn't sit down. “And why should I help you guys recapture a clone so you can take him back to be wiped and imprinted?”

“Because he's no safer out here than in there,” Castiel answered with something significant in his tone. Dean really didn't like that answer.

Pamela's face filled with a dawning realization as she looked at Dean. “Whose clone is he?”

“Sam?” Dean asked, “I dunno.”

“Lucifer.”

Pamela didn't seem shocked, but she sat down. She looked deathly serious as she spoke to Castiel. “And your bosses can't find him?”

Cas shook his head.

“Well shit,” Pamela said in answer.

“Why? Who's Lucifer?” Dean asked, puzzled and more than a little frustrated. Nobody answered him, too busy sharing significant looks. “Answer me! Who is Lucifer?! Castiel!”

Eyes turned towards them from other tables again and Pamela and Castiel finally broke their staring to look at him.

“He's Michael's brother,” Castiel answered weightily, “He was disinherited twenty years ago. He didn't agree with the restrictions on the cloning process. He was interested in genetic manipulation, stimulating superhuman abilities. He tried to take a contract with the military but Michael overruled him.”

Dean snorted. “Doesn't seem like what he was doing would be any worse than what you guys do anyway.”

Castiel frowned. “What he wanted would have required extensive human testing, and he aimed to speed up the growth process. Clones would be in constant agony from growing pains, kept confined for ongoing manipulation and testing and would be harvested within approximately five years. At least that's what his presentation implied.”

“Sheesh, okay that is worse. Still don't see why it didn't get a-okayed though, it's not like your bosses are all that interested in our quality of life,” Dean argued.

“You're wrong,” Castiel answered bluntly. “The man who invented the cloning and imprinting process, Michael and Lucifer's father, he was the one that instituted the rules about your living conditions. That you had to be comfortable and be allowed to live as normally as possible until your twenty-eighth year. And he didn't want cloning to ever be used in warfare. To him you were a gift of life, of healing. Not violence.”

“Wow, noble,” Dean said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “Almost makes me proud to be a meat-suit. Shame about the lack of free will.”

Cas glared a little, but he couldn't seem to disagree with Dean's bitterness.

Pamela chuckled a little and leaned back in her chair. “Point is, if he's out here and Luci's out here, chances are Lucifer has an interest in finding him. And that wouldn't be a good thing,” She drawled, then levelled a look of vaguely terrifying proportions at Castiel. “So I guess you've got our help. But don't think for one moment that we're going to sit by when it comes time for you to take them back in.”

Cas nodded.

“Alright then!” She grinned, “Pancake time.”

\---

Ruby pulled up outside a diner, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel before turning to Sam. “You ready?”

Sam nodded, rendered mute with anticipation.

“Get Anna out, I'm going to scout the place out quick, make sure it's not a trap. Be ready to leave if I shout,” She ordered as she left the car.

Sam took a deep breath and slid out of the passenger door. Getting Anna out was a matter of moments, she was calm and compliant as always. He stood beside the car with her for what seemed like a century before Ruby stood outside the door and gestured him over.

Another deep breath and he took Anna's hand and crossed the road.

“Come on then, let’s go meet your big brother,” Ruby murmured.

The stepped inside.

Sam's gaze immediately searched the room, landing quickly on a table where two men and a woman sat. He could only see Dean from the back, but he knew it was him. He didn't know the other two but it didn't make him hesitate. He stepped forward. “Dean!”

\---

Dean's head snapped around.

Sam was standing only a few feet away.

He was out of his seat before Castiel could react, powering his way over to his brother with his thoughts a jumbled mess where the only coherent parts were disbelief and _Sammy_. The moment he got his arms around his baby brother it felt like he could breathe again, like someone had removed their hand from his throat. He was vaguely aware of Cas and Pamela approaching, but he ignored them.

When he felt reassured enough that this was real, that he wasn't going to wake up in a motel room with Sam still missing, he stepped back. “What are you doing here?”

Sam laughed, disbelief and happiness to match Dean's in his tone. “Looking for you, jerk.”

“Bitch, you're the one who went missing!” Dean answered, landing a soft punch to Sam's arm, face already aching from grinning so wide.

“Aren't you going to introduce us?” A woman asked from just behind Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes and stepped to the side so Dean could see the small, pretty blonde and the serenely smiling red head whose hand she was holding. “Dean, this is Ruby. She kidnapped-” He cut himself off at Ruby clearing her throat and continued with another eye roll, “ _Rescued_ me. We tried to get you out too, but you weren't there. We've been looking for you ever since.”

“I was out looking for you!” Dean answered, wanting to hit himself. Of course Sam would never leave without him. He should have waited.

“Yeah, we figured,” Ruby replied. “Now are we gonna sit down or what? 'Cause I'm not usually comfortable with the level of attention we're getting unless I'm in a bar and I'm thirsty.”

They all moved back to the table, pulling out two extra chairs from an empty table to the side and sitting down.

“Who's your friend?” Pamela gestured to the redhead.

“That's Anna,” Sam answered with barely a glance. “She used to work for Edlund and Sons but they mind wiped her.”

Only now did Dean register the look of horror on Cas's face. He laid a hand on the security officer's shoulder. “You okay?” He asked quietly.

Castiel shook himself out of it and his normal stoic mask slid back into place. He nodded.

Pamela however was now wearing a look just as horrified. “Anna Milton?”

Ruby shrugged. “We don't know. Getting her out was tradeoff for information about Dean.”

“Anna?” Pamela spoke to the redhead, laying a gentle hand over where Anna's rested on the table. “Sweetie can you hear me?”

Anna looked at her. “You have pretty eyes.”

Pamela took out a phone. “I've gotta tell Garth. God, we were so close! Those bastards!”

Sam looked puzzled. “What?”

“She was helping us with something,” Pamela looked cautiously between Castiel and Ruby. “We were close to a breakthrough and they did this to her. Man, Charlie is gonna go off the rails.”

Dean frowned. “You know, for a secret movement you aren't shy about naming people.”

Pamela spared him a sharp smile. “Who says the names are real?”

Ruby sat back placidly, looking over the group.

“Look, you found each other, right? And I'm guessing Ruby doesn't want Sam going back to the farm, and to be quite honest I'm doubting Castiel's intentions here given that he agreed to this little side venture in the first place,” Pamela said, still texting. “So how about I take Anna here and we go see if we can unscramble her brain, and you guys can go off and enjoy your reunion?”

“That wasn't the deal we made,” Ruby replied, “I don't know who you are and she's supposed to go to someone specific.”

“Sweetheart, you can stop acting like you give a damn about her. Let me take her to people who do,” Pamela took Anna's hand and made to stand.

Ruby stopped her with an iron grip on her arm. “No one's going anywhere just yet.”

Pamela's eyes flashed with alarm. “Dean, get Sam out of here. Now!”

Dean didn't hesitate, standing and grabbing Sam and Castiel both.

Sam shook him off, “Wait, why?”

“She's a demon!” Pamela hissed.

Sam and Dean exchanged raised eyebrows. “Okay,” Sam said slowly. “Since when are demons a thing?”

Cas made an impatient noise. “It's not literal. It's a slang word for people who imprint themselves on regular humans. Dean, we have to leave. Now.”

Ruby slammed Pamela back into her chair where the brunette sat nursing her arm and looking around frantically for a way to escape. “It's not a very nice word.”

“So when it's on regular humans, then it's bad,” Sam said bitterly. “She helped me, I wouldn't have found you guys if she hadn't!”

Castiel ignored Sam and met Dean's eyes. “She's probably working for Lucifer, only a handful of people have the technology for imprinting.”

Dean's eyes widened. “Sammy, let's go.”

“Why?” Sam shouted, frustrated and confused.

Ruby laughed and he turned to her.

“Ruby?” Sam asked in a small voice.

“Your brother's friend works for Edlund and Sons. Isn't that right _Castiel_?” Ruby hissed.

“And you work for Sam's original. Now tell me, what could he possibly want with Sam apart from imprinting?” Castiel challenged.

Pamela took the distraction and ran.

“I said no one leaves yet!” Ruby yelled. She took out her gun and the diner erupted in chaos as she shot Pamela in the leg.

“Why not?” Sam asked, eyes wide and scared as he darted glances between Cas and Ruby, clearly unsure of who to trust.

“She's told Lucifer where we are,” Castiel answered for her, “She doesn't want anyone going for backup.”

She turned to him, “They really do pick the smart ones,” She said sarcastically.

Castiel lunged for the gun, knocking it out of her hand.

Dean grabbed Sam again, pulling him away from the fight.

Sam stopped, “We can't leave Anna.”

Dean swore. “Sam, Anna is a vegetable. Pam's down for the count and Cas is fending off your evil girlfriend. Now come on!” He tugged ineffectually at his brother's arm. He swore again. “Cas, I need your cell!”

Castiel landed a right cross to Ruby's nose and dug in his coat pocket, tossing the phone to Dean and blocking before Ruby could land a kick to his head.

Dean turned it on and dialed 911, and wasn't surprised when the phone redirected. It rang through for nearly a full minute before someone answered.

“Castiel?” A woman's voice asked with mild surprise.

“It's Dean,” Dean answered, “I mean, zero-one. We're in trouble. Can you track this cell?”

“No, the GPS has been disabled,” The woman answered.

“Shit!”

“Where are you?” She asked, the sound of typing in the background.

“I don't know!”

She sighed impatiently. “We're tracking the call, keep the line open.”

Dean left the phone on the table and shoved Sam behind him as four people walked into the diner and approached the fight. Two went to help Ruby, the other two stalked up to the brothers.

“Well, I'll be damned. She did it,” A woman with short blonde hair and a malicious smile said, circling around to get to Sam.

“Back up, bitch,” Dean snapped at her.

She laughed.

Then a table was knocked over and Dean looked over to see Castiel on the ground, clutching his side where Alistair had stabbed him. The newcomers took the distraction as an opportunity. The blonde went for Sam, while the other, a stocky bald guy, went for Dean.

Dean threw punches, twisted himself out of grabbing hands and threw his head back into the guy's face when he was grabbed from behind. He fought with everything he had. He even bit the guy a couple times. But baldie was strong and Dean was distracted, trying to keep an eye on Sam as he fought. He fell to the ground as a fist connected with his temple, white static filling his vision and his ears ringing.

“Dean!”

He wasn't sure if the voice belonged to Sam or Cas and he struggled to pull himself up again, but then there was a hard hand on his shoulder and a fist coming towards his face. He blinked in confusion when the hit didn't land, looking up into blue eyes before blood spattered his face as a blade was pulled from baldie's chest.

“Dean!”

This time he knew it was Sam calling and he tried so hard to get up, to go to his brother, but his legs were weak and there was a car engine and Sam's cries were cut off with the slamming of a car door, the screeching of tires.

Dean let out a sob and allowed himself to collapse back to the ground. He looked around disinterestedly, noting that Ruby and the other blonde were gone, as was Sam. Pam was curled around Anna behind an overturned table, two of the three others who attacked them lay dead on the ground including baldie. The one remaining was using his arms to drag his bleeding form across the floor.

Castiel lifted the bleeding bastard by his coat and sat him in a chair. “You're going to tell me where they went.”

And suddenly Dean felt stronger. Castiel hadn't given up. They would find Sam, they'd get him back. He felt so relieved by this thought that it took him until a black car pulled up outside before he remembered the phone on the table and the woman on the other end.


	8. Chapter 8

White room. White walls. White floor. White light.

_“What are they doing here?” Castiel asked, turning from the bleeding, begging man before him to look out the window at the black car as it pulled up._

_Dean’s heart thudded in his chest. “I called them… Someone was taking Sam and-“_

_Castiel’s eyes flicked towards the back of the diner, searching for another exit. “Dean, you should not have done that. They will take you in, not allow you to search for Sam.”_

_“I’m sorry,” Dean said quickly. “I just wanted to help.”_

_“It is I who am sorry, Dean,” Castiel said, looking sadly. “There is nothing I can do to help you.”_

_“Cas-“_

“Zero-one? Zero-one!” A voice shouted.

Dean finally looked up, drawing himself back from his thoughts. “Yes?”

“Did you experience a head injury during your time away from the compound?” The man asked. He’d introduced himself as Zachariah and thus far, all Dean had learned was that he was a jerk. A pompous, self-centered, petty jerk.

“Probably,” Dean replied. “Along with the cuts and the stabbing and the burning…”

Dean didn’t like Zachariah in the least.

“Well that explains why you have apparently lost all intelligence and can’t answer to your designation,” Zachariah said.

“My _name_ is Dean. If you want me to answer, you can use that,” Dean said.

“Your _designation_ is zero-one. Names should be reserved for people,” Zachariah said.

Dean’s expression darkened and he looked away again.

_The doors pushed open and a balding man with a pudge around his middle and a dark skinned man walked inside. The dark skinned man spoke. “Castiel.”_

_“Uriel,” Castiel repeated, just as emotionless._

_“This is quite the mess,” Uriel said, looking around. “Where are the clones?”_

_“Here,” Dean said softly and then, louder. “I’m here. My brother got taken before you showed up.” Some good they were._

_Uriel looked at Castiel who motioned to Dean. “Zero-one. Zero-two was taken.”_

_The balding man with the pudgy belly walked over to Dean and grabbed his arm. Dean smacked his hand away. “Keep your hands off the merchandise, buddy. Who the hell do you think you are?”_

_“My name is Zachariah, and it is my job to get you back to the compound,” he said._

_Dean tensed. “I want to find my brother.”_

_“We have others for that,” Uriel said. “Zachariah will take you back to the safety of the compound.”_

_Safety sounded good but Dean knew now that it was a lie. And no safety sounded as good as getting his brother back. “No.”_

_Uriel turned, finally giving his attention to the clone. “I don’t remember_ asking _you.”_

“Who helped you get out of the compound?” Zachariah asked.

“No one,” Dean replied.

“ _Who_ was it that _helped_ you get _out_ of the _compound_?” Zachariah asked again, slowing his words down as if Dean was mentally challenged.

“I said no one,” Dean snapped.

“We’re not as stupid as you might think we are, _zero-one_ ,” Zachariah said. “Clones are docile and ignorant. You aren’t intelligent enough to have pulled this off on your own.”

Dean wanted to say, honestly, that he’d managed on his own. Figured out the lies and the stories they’d fed all of them to keep them in the community, put together a plan to save himself and his brother, and then broke them out. Dean wanted to say that he’d done his job and protected his little brother and he wanted to be telling the truth. Instead, he had to say all those words and know he was lying. Know that even _with_ help, he’d failed Sammy. “No one helped me.”

Zachariah looked at him, eyes bulging out of his head in a way that made Dean want to say something but managed to keep his mouth shut instead. The man sneered and stood. “Fine, zero-one. You want to lie, that’s your business. But thanks to you, Lord only knows what’s happening to zero-two right now-“

“It can’t be much worse than what you were planning to do to him,” Dean snapped. “Erasing him and letting somebody walk around in his body.”

“Listen here, you arrogant dick, I-“ Zachariah was cut off by the door opening and a red haired woman stepped inside. He straightened. “Naomi.”

“Mr. Adler,” Naomi said, voice painfully professional. Especially compared to Zachariah’s almost personal offence at Dean’s attitude. “If you’ll follow me. Zero-one has another visitor who would like to speak with him.”

A visitor? Dean felt an instinctual wave of wariness at the thought. His instincts had always been good to him which made Dean quite sure that his visitor wasn’t someone that he’d want anything to do with.

“We’re not through,” Zachariah said.

Dean flashed him a smirk. “I look forward to our next rendezvous, asshole.”

Naomi and Zachariah disappeared from the room and the door shut behind them. They’d handcuffed him to the table, looping the shining silver links around a bar on the table, but apparently that wasn’t enough because he heard the tell-tale click of the door locking before quiet footsteps grew only quieter as the two walked away. Dean sighed, tugging lightly on the cuffs without any real drive to free himself. He’d have to deal with the door and whoever or whatever was on the other side of it.

The clock on the wall flipped over and Dean watched it with the resigned sense of boredom that was covering his anxiety, his fear, his worry that his one chance to save his brother had failed.

More time passed. Hadn’t they mentioned a visitor?

Dean watched nearly forty-five minutes pass by, restless frustration building with every tick of the clock. Then there was a scraping noise, a key in a lock, and the door cracked open. A familiar voice made its way into the room. “Thank you, Naomi, but I will handle it from here.”

A man stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

It’s said that if you were to see yourself on the street you wouldn’t recognize yourself, because you’ve never seen yourself that way. Mirror images and photographs don’t do justice. Dean now knew that to be a bold faced lie. The man before him was….Dean. He was the same height, the same jawline, the same bright green eyes. Dean recognized the freckles on the man’s skin from looking at his face in the mirror each morning. Distantly the thought passed through that now he knew for sure he'd still be hot in his forties.

“Zero-one-“

“Dean,” he corrected instantly.

“Dean,” Michael said. “My name is Michael Edlund. My father was Carver Edlund and the previous owner and CEO of Edlund and Sons, before his passing.”

“I know who you are,” Dean said.

“You do?” Michael asked, raising an eyebrow. It was weird to see his own face twisting into expressions he’d never made.

“Cas told me about you,” Dean said.

“Cas?”

“Castiel Novak,” Dean supplied. “The security officer.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met him,” Michael said.

“Your loss,” Dean replied, and he was serious. Dean leaned back into his chair, at least as much as the cuffs around his wrists allowed him. “So, what do you want? Besides the rights to my body. Or, at least, I suppose that’s what you used to want.”

Dean cast a look down at his hand where a still healing burn was a fading brownish pink on his fingers. He snorted and held out his hands. “Not worth much now, after all.”

“What makes you say that?” Michael asked.

Dean’s head came up slowly. “Cas said-“

“Castiel Novak doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Michael said. He straightened the black suit jacket, unbuttoning it before sitting down across from Dean and looking at him. “Castiel Novak is a security officer whose job has nothing to do with my decisions on which clones I use and why. The injuries you sustained will heal and affect your mobility very little to not at all. Scars and the like are just that.” Michael shrugged. “I see no reason why you would not still be a valid option as a replacement body.”

“Do you hear yourself talking?” Dean asked. “This is _my_ life you’re talking about.”

His nightmares that Michael was writing off.

Michael crossed his legs and watched Dean carefully. “Your entire life has been building to this point, Dean. You were created for this purpose and, had Sam Winchester not been taken, you would have continued on with your life for another two years before you were sitting in _almost_ the same position. The difference being that I would never have met with you had we waited until you had matured properly.”

Matured properly. Dean stiffened at the demeaning language. “Didn’t want the guilt? Or was I just not worth the time?”

“Had we waited until the proper time, I would not have needed to gain your consent,” Michael replied calmly.

“My consent?” Dean asked. But he remembered this, a little bit from Castiel’s attempts to explain how the cloning process worked. The original owner of Edlund and Sons had set up the rules so that clones got twenty eight years before being replaced and the law had been set up to keep those rules in place. Dean grinned. “If I don’t say yes, you have to wait two more years.”

“One year, nine months, and twelve days, to be exact,” Michael said. “We attempted to work around it but the law was practically written by my father and he was a bright man. I don't have that kind of time.”

Dean shrugged. “Well, if all I have left is forcing you to wait you better be damn sure that I’m going to do that. Consider me to be wearing a Do Not Enter sign.”

Michael arched an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Damn right I’m sure. Lock me up and throw away the key for the next year, nine months, and whatever days but you do not have my consent,” Dean said.

Michael was silent for a moment. “What if I swear to let your brother go at the end of his twenty eight years?”

Dean frowned. “What?”

“Your brother. Sam. Designation zero-two?” Michael asked. There was a tone of innocence but it felt forced or practiced. “He’s twenty-two now and my brother, Lucifer, has no legal claim to any of the clones here. Normally, in that case, we might still possibly sell zero-two to another buyer but if you consent now I see no reason not to allow Sam to take up his own life outside of the community.”

Dean’s hands curled into fists. This was low. So low. Striking directly at Dean’s weak spot to force Dean into consenting. “And if I continue to refuse?”

“Then I will personally find a buyer to sell Sam to,” Michael said bluntly.

Dean yanked on the cuffs which bit into his wrists and glared at the other man, the other version of himself. “You can’t do that.”

Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “I absolutely can. Clones are property, Dean. My property. And while my father may have been attacked by some misguided guilty conscience I do not share the same burden. You were created for this purpose, Dean. You and Sam were born and raised with the sole intent of being replaced. Giving Sam the gift of freedom is a once in a lifetime chance for you.”

“He’s not your property,” Dean snapped. “We’re people. Real people with thoughts and souls and...”

Dean was suddenly struck with the thought that he was never going to go on his road trip with Cas. Never going to see Sam settle down and be happy. Dean had experienced the adventure of a lifetime with Cas by his side in search of his brother and it was all over. Somehow the thought of never seeing Cas again was almost as painful as losing his brother. Never seeing Cas squint in confusion at Star Trek or sigh in exasperation as Dean chose the least healthy thing of the menu. Never properly introduce Cas to Sam. He realizedthat he'd been looking forward to them meeting, another small fragment of a future he couldn't have.

Michael let him trail off without interrupting. When it appeared Dean had officially stopped he asked, “Are you finished?”

“Does it bother you at all?” Dean asked. “That you’re just going to erase me? Make it like I never existed. Does it ever cross your mind that I’m going to die because you think you have a right to my skin?”

Michael sighed, uncrossing his arms. “You’re a clone, Dean. You _are_ me. That is _my_ skin.”

“Why do you even do this?” Dean asked.

“Everyone wants to live forever. If you had the opportunity to live another life time, wouldn’t you?” Michael asked.

Dean’s eyes hardened, his jaw clenching. “I just want one lifetime all my own.”

Michael was silent at that but it must not have struck too deep a chord because he asked, “What’s it going to be, Dean? Consent now and I’ll free your brother. Sign the paperwork. Make it legal. We’ll find him, rescue him, and then he’s free to go.”

Dean met his own eyes, familiar green irises that Dean couldn’t read. It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t even a real choice. “Let him go. I’ll consent.”

\---

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sam demanded, yanking at the ropes tying his wrists to the handle above the car window but getting absolutely nowhere. With every tug, he felt the fibers of the rope rub his wrist raw and a tingle in his fingertips from the growing lack of circulation. It wasn’t getting him anywhere. Whether Ruby or the blonde had tied him up, they were remarkably good at it.

It didn’t stop him from trying.

“You’re the one scraping your wrists raw for no good reason,” the blonde said.

Sam ignored her, still twisting and pulling in his futile attempts to free himself. He saved his glare for Ruby, sitting in the front seat next to the driver. “We were supposed to be rescuing my brother.”

Ruby ignored him.

“Listen to me!” Sam yelled.

A pause and then Ruby turned. She looked him over and then replied, “You saw him, Sam. He was planning to go back with that security officer. Clearly, he doesn’t want to be saved.”

“You don’t know that,” Sam said. “He said that man was trying to help him.”

“Do you believe everything your brother says? Face it, buttercup, you and your big brother don’t know the first things about this world. They got to your brother and I’m doing the best thing for you, which is taking you away from a bad influence before they get into your head too,” Ruby replied.

Sam went back to yanking on the ropes, right up until the blonde hit ~~in~~ * him in the arm – barely more than a light tap. “You’re going to end up hurting yourself. Cut it out before I drug you. ”

Sam ground his teeth together but stilled. He turned to Ruby again. “Were they telling the truth?”

“About?” Ruby asked, absently and not even bothering to look back at him.

“You being a… a demon, or whatever. That you imprinted on a regular human. That isn’t your body,” Sam said.

Ruby was silent for a long time and then, “Yes, that’s true.”

Sam’s face twisted into an expression of disgust, his lip curling up. “Do you have any idea how fucked up that is? Especially after you spent all that time trying to tell me how unsafe I was in the community?”

“Don’t judge me before you know what I’ve been through, Sam,” Ruby warned. “Not all of us got a fluffy life with family and friends. I would have killed for a chance at twenty eight years. Instead I got a dying body and a ticking clock at sixteen. Do you know how terrifying it is to know that you’re going to die before you’re an adult? Of course not. I did what I had to do.”

“And the person whose body you stole?” Sam asked.

Ruby’s shoulders were tight. “I’m making up for the things that I’ve done. I rescued you, didn’t I?”

“You call this a rescue?” Sam asked.

Ruby twisted in the seat again, glaring at him. “I told you, I’m protecting you. Once we get you to Lucifer-“

“The person I was created to be a meat suit for,” Sam interjected.

“-You’ll see what I’m talking about. He wants to help you, Sam,” Ruby said. “Trust me.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

Ruby arched an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“You’re using someone else’s body!” Sam exclaimed.

Ruby winced a little at that and then turned back around. “Fine, don’t trust me. Either way, I’m taking you to Lucifer.”

Sam didn’t have a good reply for that.

\---

There was a stack of paperwork a mile high that Dean had to sign, agree to, and waive his right to another year and nine months and twelve days. The clock ticked over. Eleven days now, not that it mattered since he’d given it all up.

Michael never left the entire time. Dean didn’t know why, though he doubted it had anything to do with creeping Dean out which is the only thing it was actually succeeding at doing. Dean signed the last paper, signed his life away, and then looked up. “Now what?”

“Now we wipe you, complete the imprint process, and I’ll walk out of here in time for breakfast this morning,” Michael said.

Dean felt a heaviness settle in his gut. “And Sam?”

Michael motioned to the lawyer in the room who pulled out another contract and laid it on the table. Michael reached into his suit jacket and pulled out an expensive looking pen. “This contract stipulates that Sam, designation zero-two, will be released into the world after a period of six months starting the day after I take over your body. The six months will be spent teaching Sam how to cope in the real world, giving him skills to use in the work force, and the like. When we do release him, he will be given a small trust fund to live off of until he can get a job and begin living in the real world.”

“Will you be tracking him?” Dean asked.

“For a while,” Michael admitted. “But only for his safety. Fortunately, Lucifer never shared the same love for the familiar that I did. I prefer to remain the same but Lucifer’s appearance has changed several times. Sam will likely be safe.”

Dean blew out a breath. “So that’s it?”

Michael made a show of signing the contract, looking up when he was done and pushing the contract over to Dean. “That’s it.”

Dean swallowed hard, scanning over the contract and then nodding. “Alright. Let’s do this then.”

Which is how Dean ended up sitting in a chair, hands strapped down, and looking up at Michael. “Restraints? I agreed to this.”

“Wouldn’t want you to get cold feet,” Michael said. “But the process can be painful, this keeps you from damaging yourself.”

Dean closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

Naomi walked in, closing the door behind her. “Are you ready, sir?”

“Begin,” Michael ordered.

Dean's hands clenched in anticipation, jaw aching with tension.

"Sir," A tentative voice interrupted.

"What is it?" Michael asked with distracted impatience.

"It's the programming," The voice responded, sounding impossibly young, "It looks like the bug is back from before Ann- I mean, Doctor Milton's procedure. I can't get rid of it."

An exasperated noise sounded from the corner where Naomi stood. "Let me see," She demanded irritably. After some violent sounding jabs to the keyboard, she made another noise of impatience. "Mr. Edlund, I'm extremely sorry, but we may have to postpone the procedure for a few hours while we fix this."

Dean's eyes sprang open as Michael sighed. His supposed original was absently rubbing his right arm.

A tension filled pause followed before Michael nodded. "Fine. I'll stay in the building until it's fixed. Contact me when everything is ready."

"Of course," Naomi replied, only the color bleeding from her lips as she pressed them together betrayed anything but absolute professionalism.

Michael left, already tapping away at a cell phone that looked less than practical and probably cost a fortune.

Ten minutes passed with Dean sitting uncomfortably in the chair, unable to scratch the building itch beside his nose.

Naomi was still tapping away at the keyboard and ignoring him completely, but the young guy who had informed them of the problem was staring at Dean and shifting from foot to foot. Finally he glanced at his boss and cleared his throat. Naomi didn't notice so he shifted a couple more times before speaking. "Maybe we should get zero-one back into one of the cells while we fix this?" He suggested, voice just as young and unsure as when he'd first spoken. "This could take a while, and those chairs aren't comfy. Plus he hasn't eaten in hours."

Naomi made a vague noise of acknowledgement, neither an agreement nor a disagreement. Dean doubted she was even listening.

The young guy however slumped in relief and took a breath. "I'll call for someone to take him down."

Dean was torn between desperate relief at the extra few minutes or hours he might have, and frustration that he couldn't just get this over with before he could think about it too much.

A security officer arrived not too much later and freed him from the chair, another waited outside. Both were tall with light hair and lighter eyes, one male and one female. Dean didn't bother putting up a fight.

They were halfway to the cells when the duo stopped and glanced around before herding him through a door into a small stairwell. Dean didn't even have time for a 'what the hell?' before clear blue eyes met his.

"Thank you," Castiel said to the two security officers.

The woman nodded but looked concerned. "Are you sure about this? When they discover your betrayal-"

"I'm sure," Castiel cut her off. "What Michael is doing goes against everything his father believed in and it cannot be allowed to continue. I will take it from here. How much time can you give us?"

The man smiled mischievously. "As long as it takes them to fix the blasted machine. I got us onto the patrols in the cells for the next four hours."

Castiel smiled softly. "Will you two be alright?"

"Of course! We have each other and that lab intern to back us up when we claim that you nimbly and sneakily dispatched us both before making off with the clone," The man reassured him.

The woman nodded. "We will be fine Castiel." She started to turn for the door but turned back and laid a hand on Cas' arm. "What you are doing is noble and I wish you the very best of luck. If you ever have need of further aid, don't hesitate to contact us."

"Thank you Rachel, I appreciate your support," Castiel grasped her hand, squeezed it and then pulled away to turn to the man, "And yours Balthazar. I will miss you."

Balthazar grinned and tugged Cas into a hug, "And I you old friend. Now you get that pretty clone of yours out of here before we all get in trouble."

"Goodbye," Castiel told them both.

Rachel and Balthazar left, with a fond smile on Balthazar's part and a concerned one on Rachel's.

"So," Dean said when Cas made no move to leave, "What now?"

"We wait," Cas replied.

Dean frowned. "What for?"

Cas didn't reply. Dean rolled his eyes but didn't bother asking again.

A few minutes later hurried footsteps approached. Dean tensed but Cas looked unconcerned so he stayed where he was, watching the door warily.

The door swung open and the young guy from the lab stepped through, pulling Anna behind him. The door swung shut and the four all looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"You know, last time I tried this it didn't end so well for me and Anna," The tech said a little suspiciously.

"And yet here you are," Cas replied, unruffled. He looked at Anna. "She's a good woman. And a paranoid one. She never told me what she was doing, but I know she feared discovery."

The tech's eyes widened. "You think she might've..."

"I know she did. She entrusted the copy to me over a year ago and gave me updated versions every week," Castiel answered. "We just need an empty lab."

The tech swallowed loudly but nodded. "Her research lab. The equipment in there isn't as good, but Anna kept it all functional and I isolated it from the virus before I activated it again. We should be able to get it to work without fixing the main imprinting stuff. Naomi won't think to check it, it's all supposed to be outdated."

"I already picked up the copy, we can leave when you are ready," Cas told him.

Another nod and the tech led the way up the stairs.

The corridors went on forever and Dean had no doubt he'd be totally lost without his companions. He still hadn't recovered enough to be thinking clearly, but his heart was racing and his eyes kept flicking back to Cas, wondering if this was actually happening or if he was still in that chair and the machines had already begun wiping his mind. Some kind of Eternal Sunlight of the Spotless Mind trip.

At last they entered a room, just as white and gleaming as the outside hallways, but filled with lab equipment and coffee mugs. There was a solitary aloe vera plant by the reinforced window.

“Home sweet home,” The tech muttered, immediately moving over to the small bank of computers along the wall. He glanced up nervously after a few moments of clicking and some typing. “The copy?”

Castiel pulled a flashdrive from his pocket and Dean's brain hurt at the thought that it contained an entire person. The tech took it and plugged it into the computer.

“You knew Anna?” Dean asked quietly when it became clear that whatever the tech was doing would not be quick.

Castiel glanced at the redhead. “I do. She's like a sister to me. I was assigned to her as protection on a research venture when I was first hired. She was incredibly bright, idealistic even then. It doesn't surprise me that she became involved with the resistance.”

Dean shifted uncomfortably. “So what made you come get me?”

Cas avoided his eyes. “We made a deal. I will help you find Sam.”

Dean swallowed. “And after?”

“I believe we made plans for a road trip,” Cas said a little too casually before moving away to steer Anna into a chair very much like the one Dean had sat in not too long ago.

“I made a deal with Michael,” Dean said after a moment, raising his voice enough that Cas could hear it across the room.

Cas's shoulders tensed for a brief moment before seeming to forcibly relax. “I know.”

“Sam would be safe,” Dean pointed out. “Michael signed a contract and everything.”

“But you would not,” Cas replied, “You would be cheated out of what remaining years you would have had, let alone those you should have.”

“So what, you're all for freeing the clones now?” Dean tried to joke, but his voice sounded desperate and hopeful even to his own ears.

Instead of answering, Cas strapped Anna in and met Dean's eyes at last. “To begin with clones were not supposed to have sentience. You were supposed to be empty vessels. That was Mr Edlund's design, and the one he intended to make a reality. But when it became apparent that clones would age normally it became impractical to keep them stasis where their muscles were no more able to mature than their minds. As soon as the clones were raised outside of stasis it became impossible to deny that they had thoughts, personalities, lives of their own.

“Mr Edlund had no choice but to continue. He had by that point made deals with some very powerful people. But he did impose a strict code of ethics for dealing with the clones. Michael has violated those ethics.”

“He got my consent,” Dean argued weakly.

“He coerced you. That isn't consent,” Cas replied, voice full of tightly reined rage.

“Well, thanks for the history lesson, Cas. But it doesn't really answer my question,” Dean replied as lightly as he could manage.

Cas looked ready to say something else, but at that moment the tech straightened and addressed the security officer. “Okay, we're ready.”

Dean turned away for this, stomach churning at the very recent memory of a very similar chair, but he couldn't block out the awful scream Anna gave shortly after the machine was turned on.

It was barely five minutes before the machine powered down and Anna subsided into ragged breaths, but it seemed so much longer.

“Castiel!” Anna exclaimed joyously. She looked down at herself and the restraints and a look of melancholy realization passed over her face, but she still smiled. “I knew I could count on you. You always were more of a rebel than you'd ever let on.”

“Anna,” The tech half sobbed and threw himself at her.

“Kevin!” This exclamation wasn't so joyous. “What are you doing?”

Kevin gave her a flat stare, “What does it look like?”

She looked at him in horror, “Do you know what you've done? They'll know it was you! You've put yourself in danger!”

Kevin shrugged defiantly. “I had to.” He unstrapped her from the chair and stood back to let her stand.

She seemed a little dizzy but Dean could see the wince Kevin gave as she hugged him with what looked like impressive strength.

“We should leave.” Castiel interrupted their moment with little remorse, “Someone will have heard us and we have little time as it is.”

Anna released her prodigy and nodded, quickly rifling through her desk and stopping to pull the flash drive from the computer. She shot a small, friendly smile at Dean as they all filed out of the lab and Dean suddenly felt guilty about trying to leave her behind back at the diner.

They made it back through the twisting maze of corridors without incident. Made it all the way to the fire exit that Kevin said Ruby had used just fine. The door was closed but Castiel stepped forward, waving his forearm in front of the lock. A faint buzzing noise sounded but the door didn't unlock. Cas frowned and tried again.

“They've disabled your pass,” Anna breathed, “They know you helped us.”

Cas shook his head and tried a third time. Nothing. Kevin tried with identical results.

Anna gave Kevin a worried look and gave it a go herself just on the off chance they'd left her in the system after wiping her. No such luck.

“This is bad. Very bad,” Kevin muttered.

“Someone's going to have to put one of you back in the system,” Anna said after a moment's silence as the four tried to figure a way out.

“They'd notice before you had a chance to get back here,” Castiel told her with some alarm in his voice, though his face remained almost neutral.

Anna smiled and pressed the flash drive into his hand. “Come back for me when you have help. Kevin has a contact for someone who can restore me.” She turned to Kevin and handed him something as well, “Give this to Charlie. It has all my research notes on it, and she has the key for the cypher. It's not complete without me there to explain it, but she's smart. She'll figure it out.”

“No!” Kevin protested. “You have to come with us or what was the point?”

“Kevin, someone has to do it and you and I are the only ones qualified,” Her tone softened before she continued, “Think about your mom. You can't do this. I have to or it really will have all been pointless. Get my work to someone who can finish it.”

Kevin sniffled and turned away, angry tears in his eyes.

“I'm sorry. I know you did everything you could,” Anna spoke to him softly, “But this is more important. Do this for me, please.”

Kevin turned back to her and hugged her tightly.

After some time she pulled away, smiled brightly at them all and left, calling a 'good luck' behind her.

They stood waiting by the door, itching with impatience and nervousness. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. The door remained locked.

“What if she got caught?” Dean ventured after at least fifteen minutes had passed.

Cas didn't answer, Kevin just glared.

Dean shrugged. “I'm just saying, what if we're waiting around and nothing's-”

A loud click sounded and Cas pulled open the door, raising an eyebrow at Dean.

“Okay, fine. Your sister's awesome. I never should have doubted her,” Dean answered the eyebrow.

They rushed outside, eager to escape the building and made it almost twenty feet before running footsteps came from the door behind them.

They ran, Cas leading the way, but the footsteps gained on them. Dean, behind the others by mere fractions of a second, was pulled to the ground by a hand on the back of his shirt.

Cas came to a stop at Dean's resulting yell and dashed back to fend off the attacker. Two more arrived and soon he was fighting furiously to keep them away from Dean. He caught a blow to the face and staggered back. Their attackers took immediate advantage. He spat out blood as he turned in a ring of security officers. “Go!” He shouted over his shoulder to where Dean had risen to his feet.

“Not without you,” Dean answered firmly.

More officers were approaching, Michael following behind them at a leisurely pace.

“Dean, run!” Cas tried again.

Dean shook his head. “No!”

Castiel knocked down two of his opponents and Dean caught the other by surprise, sneaking up behind him while he was distracted with Cas, who was now looking a little worse for wear.

They ran, catching up to Kevin who had stopped a few yards ahead.

“You can't run for long,” Michael called after them, voice loud and commanding without much effort.

Dean ignored him.

“We'll get to Sam first, and you don't want to imagine how quickly I'll sell him off. This is your last chance to save your brother,” Michael continued. “Hell, I'll even spare Novak and Tran. Maybe even Dr Milton. You just need to stop running.”

Dean met Cas's eyes as they ran, nearly tripping as he looked away from the ground in front of him.

Castiel shook his head. “Don't even think about it.”

Michael laughed after a pause, his voice still effortlessly carrying across the growing distance. “I think you forgot something. Or, I suppose, technically someone.”

Castiel stumbled. Dean caught his arm. Cas searched the pocket where he'd put Anna's flash drive. They trailed off to a stop. “It must have fallen out in the fight.”

Dean nodded, wide eyed. He turned to go back.

Cas caught his elbow. “Don't you dare,” He growled threateningly and shoved Dean forwards. They kept running until the sounds of the chase merged with those of a camp coming up ahead, until their lungs burned and their legs ached.

“There's a car,” Cas panted, “Beyond the camp... Go through... We may be able... To lose them.”

The three kept up a stumbling jog up to and through the camp, hearing angry shouts behind them as the officers and the people in the camp clashed together.

On the other side was Bobby's impala. Dean grinned and pushed himself to sprint the last few feet.


	9. Chapter 9

If Sam was a lesser man, he might have been bothered by essentially being pushed around by three women. All of whom were much shorter and smaller than he. He defended himself by pointing out that they were all very strong and two of them were wielding some kind of gun that looked vaguely like it might be carrying tranquilizers instead of bullets. They pulled up to an apartment building, rather nondescript and made of brick which had cracks and weathering all up and down the sides. It was in the kind of neighborhood that no one would ask questions when Ruby and the other two woman brought Sam outside. Despite the fact that he was bound with rope and one of them was pointing a tranquilizer gun at him the people at the street corner paid them little to no attention.

There would be no rescue coming from them, of that Sam could be sure.

He stumbled once on the stairs but Ruby didn’t let him fall. He mumbled a thank you as she carefully helped him back to his balance. She met his eyes, “Don’t judge me yet, Sam.”

“Too late,” he said bitterly, and tried to ignore the pain that flashed in her eyes.

Inside was vacant. Not abandoned. Vacant. It wasn’t a lack of pedestrian traffic in the apartment building, it was the innate knowledge that if Sam went and opened every apartment door he would find each residency uninhabited. The way the mailboxes were filled with nothing but dust and the absolute silence only filled when a particularly loud car drove by. No creaks of footsteps or doors opening and closing from above. Just vacant. Sam figured that didn’t bode well at all.

He was led up the stairs, they made him go first which was frustrating and left him absolutely no room to make an escape. Not that he was entirely sure he would. He didn’t have a death wish; or a wish for whatever it was that Lucifer wanted from him; but he was curious to see the man who had gone through all of the trouble to get to him and find out what the bastard wanted. If for no other reason than to suck up the rebellion in his heart and tell him where he could stick his demons.

“This one,” Ruby said, leading him down a hallway on the sixth floor and passing two or three doors on each side before opening one.

Sam stepped inside. It was lived in, unlike the rest of the building, with dirty dishes in the sink and shoes by the door. The TV was still on but muted and Sam watched as a weatherwoman silently gave the local news. Cold front, if Sam remembered his science classes correctly. Inevitably, his eyes fell on the other man in the room. He was shorter than Sam. In fact, Lucifer looked almost nothing like Sam, their hair color being about the only thing that was even remotely similar.

“I thought I was a clone,” Sam said.

Lucifer turned from the window he was standing at, looking towards Sam with an intense gaze before replying, “You are. I just made some adjustments in the process.”

“Were you compensating for something?” Sam asked, being a big guy and knowing that Lucifer would hardly be the first man to want to upgrade all over.

“Funny,” Lucifer smirked.  “I admit, when I first began experimenting with my clones I may have gone a little overboard in my demands. The next generation was supposed to be able to see the future.”

“Guess I really missed out,” Sam replied.

“Guess so,” Lucifer said. He walked across the room and Sam didn’t like the way his feet barely made any noise over the worn wood floors. The other man had to tilt his head to look up at Sam, eyes scanning over his face. “I’m glad you could join us.”

“Your girls didn’t really want to take no for an answer.”

Lucifer looked to them and waved them off. Only Ruby hesitated, but eventually all three of them left. “My father-“

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Sam interrupted. “Now it’s one on one.”

“You’re tied up,” Lucifer pointed out.

Sam shrugged. “I’m sure I could manage.” Lucifer didn’t say anything to that, just stood there and watched him. It made Sam’s skin crawl. “What?”

“I’m waiting for your attack,” Lucifer said dryly.

Sam’s jaw clenched and he remained silent and standing where he was.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “As I was saying… My father was a brilliant man. The kind of man who, under the right circumstances, could change the very world as we know it. He had the intellect that could completely wipe clean the face of the Earth and rebuild it as something beautiful. He could rock the very foundations of technology and civilization. A true genius.”

“And cloning wasn’t life changing enough for you?” Sam asked.

“Don’t interrupt, Sam. It’s rude,” Lucifer said. “But no, I don’t think cloning was all that impressive. The technology is, don’t get me wrong, but the idea behind it just falls flat.”

“Immortality isn’t enough for you?” Sam asked.

“Immortality is just more and more of the same,” Lucifer said. He turned and walked back to the window. “Take my brother for example. Your brother, Dean, will be Michael’s fourth clone and each time he has taken absolutely no steps to change anything. Your brother is a carbon copy of mine. Four times, and Michael is so attached to the tradition of himself that he refuses to attempt to improve, to evolve.”

“But you evolved?” Sam asked.

Lucifer motioned to Sam. “Of course I did. The first two clones I left alone. I donned them and wore them and attempted to be the same kind of person that my perfect older brother was. But the third time around, I made some requests and had some changes made. Little things, but I wanted to see that it could be done. And it _could_ be done. So the fourth time around, I made a few more changes. But you, you were my real test. If I could dramatically change everything and still have you come out right then truly anything could be done.” His expression took a dark turn. “Unfortunately, before I could get to work on successfully completing my fifth clone and begin the real work on improving the human race to something better, stronger, my brother found out and cut all of my ties to the company. Without the resources to keep going, I couldn’t continue the work I’d started on.”

“Thank God for small favors,” Sam said.

Lucifer turned, stalking back across the floor and turning an ice cold stare on Sam. “What did I say about interrupting?”

“That it was rude,” Sam replied calmly.

“Then don’t do it,” Lucifer said. He held the stare for a moment more and then turned back around. “I knew the work needed to be done, so I searched out people who would be willing to work for me in exchange for miracles. Miracles that I could provide. I’m a smart man, inherited my father’s genius, and it wasn’t too hard to cobble together my own version of the wiping and imprinting technology. The only problem was getting clones, which is where the real money just couldn’t be scrounged up on my own. Clones require the technology to create them and the environment to raise and nurture them. They require ongoing expenses. However few millions of Edlund and Sons' company profits later, laundered through several accounts of course, I purchased criminals from the local prison.

“It was difficult, clones are created to be imprinted on and the average human would make the new imprint sick, but I managed to build a technology that would allow them to wipe the original personality and replace it. Not perfectly of course, often there are still remnants, small echoes and glitches. There's a time limit as the brain attempts to heal what it registers as damage. But it's workable.”

Sam thought back to Ruby, housed in one of those criminal’s bodies. “That’s sick.”

“They were criminals,” Lucifer said.

“I don’t care. It’s wrong,” Sam said. “You shouldn’t do it to anyone. Not a criminal, not a clone.”

“But I did,” Lucifer said, clearly proud of his own genius. “And I made them stronger. Thanks to innovative programming, my demons have conscious access to instinctive responses. They can be twice as strong as the average person. Sure, they might damage the body a little sooner but when you can always just purchase a junkie from the local jail that’s not a real problem.”

Sam turned away, expression disgusted. He swallowed hard and then forced himself to turn back to the man before him. “What does this have to do with me?”

Lucifer raised a finger. “Good question and a rather perfect segue to the next part of the story. It occurred to me that my ability to change the world was limited by time. Sure, I could live forever this way but my process would be sped up much faster if someone of equal intelligence to myself could speed things along.”

“And because I was cloned from you, you think that person is me?” Sam asked.

“Well, having been cloned from me you _would_ have the same potential intelligence but no, that was not my purpose,” Lucifer said. “My plan is to imprint on you. Keeping this body as well, of course, and branching off into another location to continue the process there. Perhaps between the two of us…me…I could generate the resources to create my own cloning technology. I would be unstoppable.”

To Sam, it sounded like Hell. “No.”

Lucifer arched an eyebrow. “No?”

“No,” Sam said.

“I could force you to say yes, Sam,” Lucifer said. “I could have the girls come back in and drag you kicking and screaming down to the machines in the basement.”

“Then that’s what you’ll have to do,” Sam said, his heart pounding with fear.

Lucifer eyed him carefully. “What if I rescue your brother?”

Sam grew quiet. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Ruby informed me via message after she and the others took you from the diner that your brother was in the care of one of my brother’s security officers. Undoubtedly, after having taken you, said security officer will rush him to safety. I made a mess of Michael’s current body, having been warned of my impending disownment. It’s expiring too quickly and Dean will be barely old enough when they shove Michael into him,” Lucifer said. He paused and shrugged. “Unless, of course, they attempt to get him to sign consent and give Michael permission to ride his body sooner rather than later. Michael won't be too fond of the idea of living in a crippled body for two years.”

“Can they do that?” Sam asked.

“Of course they can,” Lucifer said.

“Dean would never say yes,” Sam said. He hoped not, at least.

Lucifer arched an eyebrow. “I have you, Sam. And Michael will promise your safety if Dean gives in sooner rather than later.”

“How can you protect Dean?” Sam asked rather than think about how quickly Dean would agree to that deal.

“I have people inside that will free your brother the moment you say yes,” he replied.

Sam took a step back, more to steady himself than in an attempt to escape. “You said it yourself, you could drag me down. Why don’t you?”

Lucifer was quiet for a long moment. “Would you believe me if I were to say that I don’t want to hurt you? That, despite what you may think about me, you _are_ me. You have the same rebellious streak in you, the same desire to change the world. You know what it’s like to want to be stronger. You know what it’s like to feel anger pump through your veins like a chemical in your bloodstream. I know the truth, Sam, because you are me. And I consider you a son, part of my family.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed on the other man. “Most people don't take living through their children literally.”

Lucifer sighed dramatically, eyes twinkling. “Well, my family has always been unconventional. I don't need your consent, Sam. But I want it. And as you may have gathered, I'll go to great lengths to get what I want.”

“And why do you want this?” Sam pressed.

“Partially for the reasons I have already given. I want you to come willingly, to be a part of the vision rather than an obstacle,” Lucifer explained, “And partially because sibling rivalry is a bitch. If he can get Dean to consent, then I can get you to do the same. I know you'd do anything for big bro Dean.”

Sam avoided Lucifer's crystal gaze. “That doesn’t mean I agree with what you’re doing.”

“You don’t have to,” Lucifer said. “I’m not going to lie, Sam. I don’t really care if you believe in what I’m doing. But I do care that you understand, and we both know you do. What disgusts you isn’t that I’m doing it, it’s that you can see yourself doing the same things.”

“That’s a lie,” Sam snapped back.

“Is it?” Lucifer asked. When Sam didn’t say anything back, Lucifer shrugged. “You want to save Dean, I want something only you can give me. I won’t hurt Dean if you say no, which is more than I can say for what Michael will do to you if _Dean_ says no, but I’m not going to save him without your help. You scratch my back…”

Sam closed his eyes, only opening them when he had turned his head again and was facing the TV. They’d moved on from the weather and onto a story about a war in another country. “You swear you’ll save Dean?”

“On my honor,” Lucifer said.

Sam turned back and then nodded. “Okay.”

\---

Dean’s life had been a routine for a very long time. Schedules and time tables and alarms that would tell him where to go and when to go there and what to do when he arrived. His life had constantly been a litany of rules and orders and following the directions given to him because he needed to be kept safe.

Distantly, Dean could remember being young and having Sam curled up at his side. TV time was limited and hard to come by in childhood, though less strict in later life. The people in charge were more concerned with keeping the brain and body active. A few hours every week, Dean would sit down with Sam and curl up on the floor and watch episodes of old TV shows or catch one of the classic movies approved for the residents of the community. Dean liked the aliens and the action movies, images of people who kicked ass and took names and never followed any rules. Dean liked the idea of being strong enough to do what was right.

The doctors and guards and teachers told him that he _was_ doing good just by being here. The quality in his blood was saving lives, they said.

Now Dean knew differently and looking back, it felt like everything he’d ever done and every rule he’d ever followed was a waste. How much time had he wasted listening to lies and rules and stories, kept blind and ignorant because he’d always been told that following the rules was everything?

Even Sam had thrown a fit several times about being cooped up in the same place. Dean had questioned it but in the end he always obeyed. Christ did he feel stupid now.

All of those thoughts ran through his mind at lightning speed as he raced towards the car. He climbed in through the window, not bothering to waste time opening the door, and Cas got in the other side. He did waste the time. As did Kevin as he threw himself into the back seat.

Okay, so maybe Dean had just jumped through the window to say he had.

“Drive!” Cas shouted.

Dean’s eyes widened and he looked out the window at the people now clashing and fighting with the security officers sent to retrieve them. “What about them?”

“Michael is after you, Dean. These people are more in danger the longer you stay,” Castiel replied. “Now drive!”

One of the officers reached Dean’s window, reaching in and grabbing a handful of his shirt. Castiel reached over, wrapping his fingers around the officer’s wrist and twisting. The snap of bone was audible and sickening and the yelp of pain was even louder. The hand disappeared back out the window and Castiel turned desperate blue eyes to Dean. “I said drive!”

Dean finally obeyed, slamming his foot down on the gas pedal and feeling the jolt of the car as it sped forward, kicking up dust and dirt behind them and shooting out of the trees. It was a dirt road, grass growing in various spots between the rocks and rough land, and Dean had a white knuckle grip as the road narrowed further and further until the tips of the side mirrors were brushing the branches of the trees as they passed. The sound of engines behind them somehow made his grip tighten even further. He hadn’t even thought it was possible. “Cas?”

The man was twisted around and reaching into the backseat, pulling a black briefcase-like box but plastic and smaller. He opened it and Dean recognized the pieces of a gun. With practicedease, or what Dean assumed to be such since he didn’t know the first thing about guns, Castiel slid the pieces together. “Yes, Dean?”

“Are you going to shoot someone?” Dean asked.

“Probably,” Castiel said bluntly.

“We're gonna die,” Kevin muttered weakly. They both ignored him.

Dean heard a clunking noise as a particularly thick tree branch hit the side mirror hard. “Bobby will kill me if I ruin his car.”

Castiel paused long enough to look up. “Somehow I doubt that his biggest concern right now is his car.”

“You don’t know Bobby,” Dean said.

\---

In the back room of the Roadhouse, Bobby and Ellen were waiting on a call and packing guns and other supplies into a duffel. Bobby tapped his fingers on the table. “Boy’s going to ruin my car.”

Ellen smacked him on the back of his head as she walked by.

\---

Shots fired and Dean jumped, swerving the car and knocking the side mirror off in the process as it struck a tree trunk. Dean twisted to watch it fall onto the ground and then roll before he snapped forward again in his seat to watch the window. “Why are they shooting at us?”

“To stop us,” Castiel said.

Dean glared at him, though he knew that Castiel didn’t have the sense of humor to be using sarcasm and certainly not during a time like this. “I meant that five seconds ago, Michael wanted to wear me to the prom. What happened to that? Not going to be worth much if I have a bullet hole in my head!”

“They are aiming for the tires, Dean. You are in no immediate danger of being shot,” Castiel said. “However, if you cannot learn to keep your eyes on the road and refrain from distracting me _I_ may shoot you.”

Well, looked like Castiel found a sense of humor after all.

Dean tore his eyes away from Cas' ass as he knelt on the seat and leaned out of the window to shoot, and turned back to the road just in time for the dirt road to almost suddenly switch to asphalt. He slammed on the brakes and twisted the steering wheel. The brakes and tires squealed in harmony at the abrupt ninety degree turn. Cas was swung back into the car and across the seats. They were stopped for a moment and now Dean had a lapful of Castiel. He cleared his throat. “I saw that in a movie once.”

“Drive, Dean!” Castiel snapped.

Dean hit the gas again.

It continued like that for a while, alternating between Cas leaning out the side window and shooting at their pursuers and Dean making random, blurted comments about the subject. It felt like hours – it was only seven minutes – and then Cas pulled himself back into the car, saving Dean from further car endangering ogling. Dean looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“The last of the security officers are falling behind. They will not be able to drive on the flat tire I just gave them. As long as we continue at this speed, they will be unable to keep up. Their next path will be to attempt to track us using the computers back at the company’s headquarters. We’ll need to leave the car somewhere.

Dean nodded. “Like where?”

\---

“But you have to rescue Dean first,” Sam said.

Lucifer smirked. “You don’t trust me?”

“Not in the slightest,” Sam said.

Lucifer’s eyebrows rose. “I should be insulted. Fortunately for you, I understand that you’ve been lied to your whole existence and it’s probably hard to trust anybody after finding out the depth of your naïveté.”

Sam heard the insult but didn’t react. “Well, is that a yes?”

Lucifer looked surprised, as if maybe he hadn’t expected Sam’s suspiciousness. As if he’d been expecting Sam to take the implied acceptance of terms instead of the explicit that he was demanding. As if he had underestimated Sam’s concern for his brother. No one should underestimate Sam’s concern for his brother. Lucifer nodded finally, almost a tip of his head in respect. “Yes, I’ll rescue big brother Dean first.”

“Then we have a deal,” Sam said.

“Ruby and the others will keep an eye on you while my disciples and I take care of your brother,” Lucifer said. Sam didn’t comment on the use of the term disciples but his disgust must have shown in his eyes. “Who am I to tell them they cannot look at me like a god? I create life and I live forever. What else to godhood is there?”

Lucifer pressed a button on a small black box on the table that hadn’t really caught Sam’s attention until it had been drawn to it. “Ruby, I need you to take Sam downstairs. Sit on him until I give you word to do otherwise.”

“Yes, sir,” Ruby’s voice came over.

Shortly thereafter, the door opened and Ruby stood in the doorway. “Come on, Sammy.”

“It was a pleasure to do business with you, Sam,” Lucifer said.

Sam didn’t respond as he followed Ruby out of the room and she closed the door behind them. Her back was straighter, her eyes were brighter, and pride was all over Ruby’s face. Sam had just sold himself to a psychopath for his brother’s safety and he wanted to knock that smug look off her face. “What are you so happy about?”

“I knew you’d come around,” she replied.

Sam snorted. “It’s not like I had much of a choice.”

Ruby turned and her brow furrowed in some confusion. “Of course you had a choice. Lucifer always gives you a choice.”

“Yeah. Either I can get carved out like a pumpkin or Dean can. Some choice,” Sam snapped.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

Sam snorted. “I thought you had the whole gig down? You were so sure that Lucifer was going to make me see the light.”

“And he did…” Ruby trailed off.

Sam glared. “What he did was tell me that I could choose between letting Michael force Dean into consenting or consent myself and Lucifer would save Dean. What Lucifer did was back me into a corner. Happy now?”

“I didn’t…” Ruby trailed off again. Lucifer had never been specific, he supposed, but he had told them that he wanted Sam’s help. He had told them that he needed Sam because he was special. Because he didn’t want Sam to be used by just anybody.

She’d been so stupid. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well.” Sam shrugged. “It’s done now.”

“If he let you choose, you could change your mind,” Ruby said.

Sam shook his head. “I can’t save Dean, but Lucifer…he can. As much as I hate it, he can. Dean has done everything for me since I was a kid. I can do this for him.”

“Sam-“ Ruby started.

“Just take me downstairs, Ruby,” Sam said.

Ruby grew quiet and walked him down.


	10. Chapter 10

The phone booth was crowded. Neither Dean nor Castiel were small men by any means and in the small space of the phone booth that fact was made only too clear. Dean could feel the hard planes of Castiel’s chest against him as they stood face to face. “Do you work out constantly?”

Castiel paused in his digging through his pockets for change to look up. “What?”

Dean shook his head. “Never mind.”

The blue eyed man arched an eyebrow but then returned to his digging. He found two quarters and slid them into the slot of the phone. The dial tone buzzed to life and Castiel punched in the number for Crowley from before. “Garth?”

“Castiel!” Garth said, that goofy drawl making Dean roll his eyes heavenward.

Castiel frowned. “How did you know it was me?”

“Gruff voice, unknown number, and a radical sense of natural instinct,” Garth replied and then he chuckled hard. “Nah, Charlie’s got a line into the communications at Edlund and Sons and we knew you and Dean were on the lam.”

“Is that Anna’s brother?” A woman, presumably Charlie said.

“I don’t think they’re related, Charlie,” Garth said.

“Oh my god, Garth. Give me the phone,” Charlie said.

Garth huffed. “I’ve got this handled.”            

Charlie's voice went low and a little scary, “Give. Me. The. Phone.”

Dean shared a look with Castiel who was struggling to keep from rolling his eyes.

A scuffle around the phone and then: “Castiel?”

“Yes,” Castiel said.

“And Dean is there?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Dean said.

Typing resumed as a quiet background noise from the other end of the line. “Hi, Dean.”

“…Hi?” Dean asked, looking up at Cas. The man just shrugged. “You are?”

“Charlie Bradbury. Ellen's group sent out word that the two of you might be looking for contacts and I knew Anna’s handsome little brother had Garth’s number. Ran the math and figured this would be the best place to set up camp,” Charlie said. “But that’s my story and it’s infinitely less interesting than the two of you.”

“You knew Anna?” Castiel asked.

“I know her, Cas. Until I know otherwise, she’s alive and kicking,” Charlie said, previously bubbly voice suddenly tight with emotion. “Anna and I were corresponding while she tried to get us information on Edlund and Sons, Michael, and the cloning process.”

“She never told me,” Castiel said softly. Dean was struck with the sudden urge to wrap his hand around Cas’ arm and squeeze in a comforting gesture and followed the instinct, firm, warm flesh under three layers of cloth giving slightly under his fingers. Castiel looked down at his hand and Dean, thinking Cas was uncomfortable, started to pull away. The man’s hand shot out and covered Dean’s. He mouthed, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Dean whispered.

“She wasn’t sure you’d approve,” Charlie said. “She hoped you would, but we warn our members not to tell their friends and family. Not their husbands and wives, children, mothers and fathers, or siblings. There’s too much of a chance of being turned in and Anna….well, she’s an integral part of the operation at this point.”

“She was feeding you information?” Cas prompted.

“And working on a program that when imprinted on a clone, or even a regular person, would make wiping them impossible,” Charlie said.

Dean looked up to Castiel to gauge the man’s reaction and was pleased by the suitably impressed look on his face. “Was she close?”

“She’s done. Finished. Complete and one hundred percent done. The information is there but it’s locked in her head,” Charlie said. She sighed. “We have to get her back, Castiel.”

“I have no intention of leaving her in there, Charlie,” Cas assured her. “She’s my family.”

Charlie was quick to respond. “I know she is, Cas. Anna always spoke very highly of you.”

Castiel’s eyes softened. “She was my best friend.”

“She is your best friend, Cas. Remember, I’m going with optimism,” Charlie said. “We’re getting her back. You’ll get your sister, the rebellion will get her program, and I’m going to get a date with her if it's the last thing I do.”

“A date?” Dean asked suddenly.

“Don’t tell me that they feed you clone folks a load of homophobic bullshit,” Charlie said.

Dean shook his head and then rolled his eyes at his own ridiculousness. She couldn’t hear him shake his head. “No. Not at all. I just… I haven’t met a lot of other people like us. There’s fifty six residents in a community. There were only four of us.”

“Oh,” Charlie said softly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to assume the worst.”

“No, it’s fine,” Dean said.

“When this is all over, I’m dragging you to a pride, okay?” Charlie said. “I’ll be damned if you don’t meet the entire queer population of Kansas by this time next year.”

Dean smiled weakly. “That might be a bit much.”

“There’s never too much,” Charlie said. “And we have to make up for lost time.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Garth’s voice again.

Charlie cut him off. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“I picked up the phone in the other room,” Garth replied. “As I was saying, I hate to interrupt but we have real business to attend to.”

Charlie was silent for a moment. “He’s not wrong.”

“We need to get Dean to the rebellion and to safety. If he is unreachable, then we can proceed to find Sam and get the both of them to safety. Only then will it be remotely possible to get to Anna and rescue her as well,” Castiel said.

“We have to get to Sam before Michael does,” Dean said.

“We know, Dean,” Charlie said. “Trust us. We have it handled. Now, I’m going to give you an address. You and Castiel should haul ass and get here as soon as possible.”

“Read it to us and we’re as good as on our way,” Castiel replied.

\---

Sam had pictured something dark and makeshift when Lucifer had told him that Ruby would be taking him downstairs. Crudely cobbled together equipment filling the dank spaces with overworked, dangerous computers that would hum loudly and put off enough heat to make him sweat.

He was surprised to find himself wrong. The space was well furnished, not clinical in the least and far from dank and unsanitary. The color scheme was a warm brown and dark red. A frosted set of glass doors sat on the opposite side of the room and only a soft glow that Sam could vaguely recognize as lights from a computer let him know that there were any down here at all. Comfortable looking furniture was spaced out and a small bar was on the left wall. “This is…”

“Nice?” Ruby asked. The door closed behind her and Sam heard a click as a lock fell into place. His eyes moved over to the side where a number pad was screwed into the wall, light on red.

“Still a prison,” Sam said.

Ruby followed his gaze. “It’s for your protection.” She didn’t sound like she was sure about that.

“Who are you trying to convince? Me, or yourself?” Sam spat out.

Ruby turned back to him. “He told us that he needed you for something special.”

“Yeah, to make a little army of himself,” Sam said. It sounded crazier out loud. It sounded made up. It was real.

“I didn’t know,” Ruby said softly. Sam shrugged but Ruby wouldn’t let it go. “I mean it, Sam. I thought…”

“You thought what?” Sam asked.

Ruby’s cheeks colored a fainted pink. “I thought maybe we could be something when this was all over. Lucifer’s top lieutenant and his prodigal son. The stories would have told themselves.”

“You’re just as crazy as he is then,” Sam said harshly.

Ruby’s eyes filled with something Sam thought was hurt but she tried to cover it with a wry smile. “Come on, you didn't think there was something there? I mean, once we got past the whole kidnapping/rescue thing?”

Sam let his glare and lack of response speak for itself

They fell into silence and Sam dropped onto one of the couches. It was just as comfortable as it looked. He ignored Ruby as best he could before the question that had been eating him up from the moment Ruby had showed her hand finally ate its way out. “Why did you agree to help me look for Dean?”

“Because you were threatening to run away,” Ruby said.

Sam snorted. “No. If it was just about that, you could have called in the others. With backup you could have taken me in at any time.”

“Maybe they were busy?” Ruby said immediately.

Sam arched an eyebrow. “All of them?”

Ruby looked away, eying the artwork on the wall before replying, “We all really believed that he wanted to help you, Sam. And I met you and you weren’t so bad. I wanted you to like me. And, okay maybe it was a little weird but I really saw us being good together.”

“You’d just met me,” Sam said.

“You asked, I answered. I don’t have to do anything more than that. I didn’t have to answer at all,” Ruby said.

Sam didn’t want to let it go. “Thank you, for trying to help me.”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” Ruby said.

“I wanted to say that, before I’m gone,” Sam said. Ruby turned abruptly and met Sam’s eyes but she didn’t say anything. “And if you ever see Dean, tell him thank you, for worrying about me. I always gave him a lot of shit for that.”

Ruby’s eyes belied the pain she hid with her words. “Anyone else you want me to play Mr. Postman to?”

Sam’s expression closed off a little. “No. No, I think that’s it.” Ruby sat there for a long moment and then stood, walking to the door. “Where are you going?”

“To think,” Ruby said.

Sam closed his mouth, refusing to admit that he didn’t want to wait for his fate alone.

The door opened with her passcode and then shut behind her. A click, and Sam was locked in his own personal hell.

\---

The Impala rumbled up to the Roadhouse, Ellen and Jo walked out and Bobby came close behind. Dean didn’t even wait for Castiel to stop the car, flinging open the door and jogging up towards the man to wrap his arms around him. “Worried the shit out of me, old man.”

Bobby smiled warmly and pulled him closer. “Told you I’d be fine, idjit.”

Ellen walked up, slapping Bobby on the back lightly. “Not that I want to break up this happy little reunion but Jo needs to get in your car-“

“Speaking of which, what the Hell happened to my car?” Bobby bellowed.

As one they all turned around, looking at the Impala as Castiel walked away from it. The black paint was scratched from the branches, twigs and leaves were bunched up around the windshield wipers, a couple of holes in the trunk spoke of the fire fight and the mirror on the driver’s side was completely gone. It looked as if the car had been sucked up in a tornado or attacked by vandals. Maybe both. It was a disaster and Dean turned to Bobby and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Bobby grimaced at the sight but only sighed. “It’s alright, boy. Just a car. More important that _you_ got here in one piece.”

Jo slid into the driver’s seat, fingers curling around the steering wheel and grinning with delight as she pressed her foot on the gas and revved the engine. “Bobby, you gotta let me drive your Baby more often.”

“Don’t put any more dents in it this once and we’ll talk when she’s all fixed up,” Bobby said.

Jo put it in reverse and twisted in the seat to look out the rear window and pull out of the Roadhouse’s parking lot. The car backed onto the street and Dean recognized the faint strains of a Metallica song being blared before she pulled away at full speed. Castiel looked at Ellen and Bobby. “Where is she taking it?”

“Away,” Ellen said. “They’ll be looking for the car and we want it as far away from the two of you as possible, so Jo is going to play the part of a joy riding hellion.”

“Which isn’t too far off from the truth,” Bobby said gruffly.

Ellen slugged him in the shoulder. “She’ll treat the car just fine, Robert. Now go get ready. I’ve got to set these boys up for the next leg of their trip.”

“You are risking putting Jo in a lot of danger,” Castiel said. “If they believe she was any part of this-“

Ellen’s eyes were hard as she turned to Castiel and cut him off. “I know. But Bobby and I, the others, we’re about to raise an assault on Lucifer Edlund. If I have to choose between her being there and being here, I’ll let her drive the car.”

Castiel nodded. “Yes. I would imagine so. My apologies.”

Ellen’s back straightened and Dean could read her strength. It must have been hard to let her daughter be a part of this. Dean had no choice. He’d been born into this, right in the thick of it all, and there was no choice but to do what he could to get out. But Ellen, Bobby, Jo? They chose to be in here, chose to fight, and Dean respected the hell out of them for it. Ellen cleared her throat and motioned towards the old, wood building. “Come on in, Dean. And it’s Castiel and Kevin, right?”

“I tend to go by Cas recently,” Cas corrected. “Though Castiel is fine.”

“Cas it is.” Ellen nodded, she looked at Kevin's blood drained face and sighed.

Inside was just as Dean remembered, right down to the burly patrons. Ellen lead them straight through to the back and a small staircase which they ascended, waving away half-hearted calls for a drink top up.

The small apartment Ellen shared with Jo was a little shabby, sunlight coming in through dusty windows to shine on a cluttered coffee table and an ancient looking couch. A small square of floor tiles marked the kitchen area and three doors led off from two of the walls. Ellen gestured them to the couch and went to rummage in the refrigerator.

“We shouldn't stay long,” Cas said, “Charlie and Garth are waiting for us.”

Ellen made a disapproving sound, “You can stay long enough to eat something. Your little friend there looks half starved.”

Kevin didn't notice Ellen talking about him, looking around wide eyed at the place as if he'd never seen anything like it before. Dean supposed it wasn't really just the apartment he was seeing.

Cas settled reluctantly back into the couch.

Dean grinned tiredly and tried not to examine his motives for stretching his arm out behind his disgruntled friend's shoulders.

\---

Michael Edlund sat down in his leather computer chair, fingers digging into the padding on the arms before he scooted his knees under the desk and shook the mouse to load his log in screen. He was interrupted in the process by the ringing of his office phone. “Michael Edlund.”

“Michael. You’re Lucifer’s brother, right?” A female voice.

Michael leaned back into his chair. “It’s not often that such a descriptor is used to describe me but yes, Lucifer is my brother. I assume you know him.”

“Something like that,” the woman said.

Michael waited for a long moment. “I would assume there is a purpose to this call.”

“I want to make a deal,” the woman said.

“I don’t even know who you are,” Michael said.

“My name is Ruby,” she replied. “I’m…I work for your brother.”

“Oh?” Michael asked. He pulled out his cell phone and messaged Naomi to have the techs trace the call through his phone. “Do go on.”

“I kidnapped Sam. Designation zero-two. I kidnapped him from the community because I thought I was helping him but…” Ruby trailed off.

Michael could fill in the blanks fairly easily. “I would imagine my deceiver of a brother lied to you about zero-two’s purpose?” Ruby was silent. “You talked about a deal?”

“Do you know where Lucifer is?” Ruby asked.

“Maybe,” Michael replied vaguely.

Ruby scoffed. “That means no.”

“It means maybe,” Michael argued.

“It means no. I’m good at reading people. Maybe means you want me to think I don’t have anything to offer. You don’t know where he's at,” Ruby said. “But I do.”

“You do,” Michael said. “Because you work for him.”

“Because I work for him,” Ruby confirmed.

“Then where is he?” Michael asked.

“We haven’t made our deal yet,” Ruby said.

Michael smiled a little. “Alright, what do you want in exchange?”

“Immunity. You have to let me walk away, scott free,” Ruby said.

“Done,” Michael said. “Now tell me where Lucifer is.”

“Hold on, I’m not done,” Ruby said.

Michael arched an eyebrow. “Asking a lot, don’t you think?”

“I work closely with Lucifer, Mr. Edlund. I know how long and hard you’ve been looking for him. I’ll tell you where he is and all I want is immunity and zero-two’s safety,” Ruby said. “I'll even throw in some security tips so you can stop people like me from getting in again.”

Michael’s grip tightened around the phone. “You have zero-two.”

“Lucifer left him in my care,” Ruby said.

Michael’s eyes narrowed on a spot on the wall, more concerned with his thoughts than whatever he was looking at. This woman had everything he needed. He tapped his fingers against the desk. “How does this work if I say yes?”

Michael could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. “Zero-two and I will come to Edlund and Sons’ headquarters, where I happen to know you currently aren't. It'll stay that way. You will have all the necessary paperwork ready, signed and waiting for me. After I've collected the papers and checked they're in order, I’ll give you Lucifer’s location. Zero-two and I leave.”

Michael felt the corners of his own mouth quirk but he contained it. “I believe we have a deal, Ruby.”

“Don’t smirk, Mr. Edlund. It’s not becoming,” she said and then hung up.

Michael looked at the phone and then he really did smile. He dialedNaomi’s number on his cell phone. “Did you track it?”

“We did,” she replied.

“And?” Michael asked.

“We have a location,” Naomi said. “Would you like me to send a team to pick up zero-two?”

“No,” Michael said. “Let her bring him to us. If we send a team, we risk alerting them. Lucifer is a genius in his own right and I have no doubt that he has security measures in place should we get near enough to become a threat.”

“Yes, sir,” Naomi replied.

“Look into this Ruby, however, and keep me updated on the search for zero-one,” Michael said.

“Of course,” she said. “Anything else?”

Michael thought for a moment. “Write up the paperwork. Ruby’s immunity and the safety of zero-two for Lucifer’s location.”

“Are you sure, sir?” Naomi asked, clearly uncertain in her own right.

Michael finished logging into his computer. “The papers for zero-two will specify safety only. Choose someone expendable to write it up and make the handover. I have no intentions of allowing zero-two out of our grasp until I have zero-one in custody.”

Naomi was silent again and then, “Yes, sir.”

“That will be all,” Michael said. He hung up. Dean's signature was on the desk before him, the consent it indicated evident in the deep, forced lines that Dean had reluctantly and angrily printed. He ran his fingers over the ink and tried to ignore the ache in his already degrading body.

\---

Ellen fed them, made them all take a hot shower while they could and shoved a bag of chips and candy at them before she'd take them out to see the weathered old banger car that Bobby had managed to get a hold of for them to take to meet Garth and Charlie. Bobby himself had left soon after Jo to meet with another branch of rebels.

“Thanks for everything,” Dean told her, in that awkward place where you don't know where you stand when it comes to goodbye hugs.

Ellen rolled her eyes, “I'm coming with you, you damn fool. I can't do much good from here, now can I?”

Dean looked back to the Roadhouse. “What about the bar?”

Ellen shrugged. “Left it in the hands of an old friend. Any luck he won't drink me dry before I get back and kick him out.” She pushed her way through to the driver's door and climbed in, looking back at them before she shut the door. “Well, get in then!”

The drive was filled with a country radio station and the stale smell of long ago smoked cigarettes. Ellen hummed absently as she drove, barely audible over the worryingly vocal engine of the car.

Kevin had finally come back to himself and was given the front seat by Ellen who had listened to Dean and Cas's arguments about who should go in the front before telling them they were acting like kids and kids ride in the back seat. Kevin occasionally asked Ellen something, usually just on the side of too quiet to be heard from the back seat. The two were getting on well and Dean felt an irrational sense of jealousy that Ellen's mothering was now focused on Kevin.

Dean and Cas hadn't spoken since they set off and now Dean was getting antsy and bored.  He fidgeted and redirected his gaze from where it had fallen on Cas's profile, discarding useless mental commentary on the contrast between strong nose and soft mouth and the way Cas' usual expression was a frown. Instead he tried to remember all the lyrics to Genesis and Marillion songs and stared out at the bland scenery.

He didn't do well with boredom and was soon back to staring at his friend – at least, he assumed that once someone's saved your life three times they count as a friend.

Eventually Cas's frown turned confused and he turned to Dean, “What are you staring at?”

The question wasn't asked aggressively, just with curiosity and Dean forced down the childish part of him that wanted to retort 'your ugly face'. It wouldn't be true anyway. In fact: “Did you always look like that?”

“Like what?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Do you look the same as you used to. When you had your original body, I mean. Or did you make some changes?”

Castiel considered a moment. “I made no alterations to my appearance. We were given the option, but I didn't see the purpose to it.”

“I'll say,” Dean muttered. He wouldn't have made any changes either if he was born looking like that.

“However, physically there are a few small differences,” Cas continued, “For instance, I have a genetic tendency towards diabetes which was removed.”

Dean snorted. “Boring. Didn't you get any cool stuff done?”

Cas stared at him blandly. “I asked for eyes that shoot lasers but I was informed that wasn't an option.”

Dean stared. He wasn't sure if Cas was being serious or not. From anyone else it would have been obvious that it was a joke, from Cas it almost sounded plausible. Not to mention the thought of Cas making a joke like that was pretty shocking in the first place.

Cas's mouth twitched at one corner, though the rest of his face remained calmly neutral as Dean watched in fascination.

“Dude, I am so teaching you to play poker,” Dean asserted.

“I already know how to play. I would not advise a match, I fear the results would damage our friendship,” Cas replied.

Dean chuckled in delight, “Oh you are so on.”

“On what?” Cas asked innocently.

Dean broke down in laughter, hand gripping Cas's shoulder firmly as his own shoulders shook.

“Knock it off back there, you're distracting the driver,” Ellen shouted over the engine, but Dean could see her smile in the rearview mirror.

The rest of the drive passed more quickly, Dean becoming downright chatty in his exploration of Cas's sense of humor. He quickly established that Cas often had difficulty understanding when people were being sarcastic or making a reference and responded by using his apparent cluelessness as a cover for some truly ruthless jokes. Dean was almost horrified to discover how adorable it was when Cas's lip twitched or his eyes scrunched a certain way when he thought he was being clever. He was most certainly horrified at the soft, humoring smile that told him Cas thought the same about Dean's lame pop culture references.

At long last they pulled into a small, less than idyllic suburb and parked up next to a house. Its obligatory white picket fence featured chipped paint and multiple warped and broken panels.

They were barely out of the car when Garth and an energetic woman with bright red hair they assumed was Charlie dashed out of the house to greet them. Between Garth's amiable and aimless chatter and Charlie's bubbly but intense interrogation all of them started to feel a little overwhelmed.

Ellen put a gentle hand on Charlie's arm and directed a firm but calming gaze at Garth. “We've had a long trip, we could do with a sit down and a drink before we get to business.”

Charlie apologizedand led the way in.

They passed through a sparsely furnished but relatively normal house to a cupboard under the stairs. Charlie shifted a cardboard box to reveal a trapdoor and opened it, stepping back with a grin to let them go first.

Ellen went in front, closely followed by Kevin and Garth. Castiel went last and Dean tried to avoid the awkward situation of staring at his friend's ass as it hovered above him on the ladder.

The basement was remarkably high tech in the kind of disjointed, disorderly way of a Frankenstein monster. There was a pool table in the center of the room that looked like it was being used for everything but. Food cartons were propped in the pockets and a man with a familiar mullet was stretched out on top of it. Ellen smacked her hand against the green felt of the table. “Ash! Wake up!”

The man snapped into a sitting position. “Whoa. Hey guys.”

“Ignore him,” Charlie said from where she'd wandered over to a laptop made of bits and pieces of everything. Dean thought he recognized a piece of a Gameboy. “Ash had a little too much to drink last night.”

“Ash has a little too much to drink every night,” Ellen said.

“I’m up,” Ash said, hopping off the table.

Dean averted his eyes so as to not look at the man clad in nothing but boxer briefs and a t-shirt.

“Alrighty then,” Ellen said, “Any more of you hidden in the junk or is this everybody?”

“This is everybody,” Charlie confirmed. “The others are with Mr. Singer in Detroit. We got a tip from Bela Talbot of all people on the location. Said a friend asked her for a favor.”

Ellen nodded. “I'll set up upstairs and wait for Jo.”

Charlie shot her an absent smile and went back to whatever she was doing on the laptop.

They all stood in semi-awkward silence for a moment before Charlie stood back up and held a hand out to Kevin. “Come here, I want you to see if this looks right. I'm trying to recreate some of Anna's work but it's not going so well.”

Kevin brightened and dug in his pocket. “This should help. Anna said you could decrypt it.”

Charlie's face looked as though someone had offered her the Holy Grail. “Is that..?”

“All of her most recent notes. She said it's incomplete without her, but between us...” Kevin shrugged, “I don't know. We might even get it done in time to program Dean.”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second,” Dean broke in, alarmed. “Program me? No thanks.”

“Oh!” Charlie looked at him with a reassuring grin, “We're not going to put someone in your head, we're gonna use you as a guinea pig for Anna's work. It should be completely safe, and if it works you won't have to worry about Michael anymore. You'll be useless to him.”

Dean nodded uneasily but Cas looked no less perturbed, “Dean is not a guinea pig. He's too important to test on.”

Charlie looked a little disappointed in Cas, “Dean is no more important than anyone else. Would you prefer I test on some other innocent clone?”

Cas stared her down without answering. Dean got the uncomfortable feeling that the answer was yes.

Charlie shook her head with a sigh. “Being Michael's clone isn't a reason not to do this, if anything he's the person we need to do it the most.”

“This isn't about him being Michael's clone,” Cas replied.

Dean would like to ask what the hell it was about then, but instead chose to diffuse the situation. “I don't care if side effects include chronic diarrheaand sudden death, if it means that I get to throw away the key to my brain so that dickbag can't get in, then I'll do it.”

Cas backed down, avoiding both of their eyes and going to sit down on a gaming bean chair with a giant yellow smiley face on it and stubbornly staying out of any conversations that went on around him in favor of staring at the ceiling.

“What the hell is up with him?” Dean asked grumpily, mostly to himself.

Charlie looked at him oddly, like he was being particularly dense.

“What?” Dean asked sulkily.

Charlie shook her head. “You poor sucker.” She refused to say anything else on the subject and dragged Kevin over so they could work on decrypting Anna's flashdrive.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Sam woke from a doze to Ruby entering the room. He pulled himself up to sit properly, stretching out his shoulders and feeling them pop.

“Get up,” Ruby told him.

Sam blinked. “Is Lucifer back already?”

Ruby gave a half laugh, “No, and that is why we're leaving while we can. He has most of the toughies with him. We won't have to deal with Lilith or Azazel. Now get your ass in gear zero-two!”

“Don't call me that,” Sam scowled, then registered the rest of what she'd said. “Wait, we're leaving?”

“Yes!” Ruby threw her hands up in exaggerated exasperation.

Sam rubbed his forehead. “I can't, Dean-”

“Can take care of himself! You think he wants you trading your life for his?” Ruby pointed out. “Look, he's got that security officer wrapped around his pinky finger. I've no doubt they're halfway across Kansas by now, having sex in some cheap motel. Now how 'bout we do the fucking same?”

Sam pulled a face. “Can you not talk about my brother fucking and us fucking in the same minute?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “Can we please get a fucking move on?”

“No. I'm staying,” Sam said firmly. As long as Dean was in danger, he'd do everything he could to change that, and right now the only thing he could do to help Dean was stay put.

Ruby shook her head with a rueful smile. “I thought you might say that.” She pulled out a needle from the front pocket of her jacket, uncapped it and stalked towards him.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked redundantly, pushing himself back into the chair as she straddled him. “Stop!”

Ruby shook her head again, “Sorry babe, not gonna happen. I got us a ticket to freedom and we're taking it.”

He held off her arm, pushing against it with all his strength to keep the needle away from him, but she really was freakishly strong and it took very little time and effort before the needle was pressed into his skin. He yelled, hoping someone would come and stop her.

“Hush, stop being such a baby,” Ruby's voice came to him distantly before he felt his eyes droop against his will, while her fingers carded through his hair.

\---

Hannah frowned down at the documents in her hands. All in order, but she was careful to re-read every line just in case.

Behind her, Gadreel paced.

“That's extremely distracting,” Hannah told him.

Gadreel stopped pacing, but came to stand beside her chair. “Something is not right about this.”

Hannah resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Gadreel was always suspicious, though she supposed he had more reason than most to be so. “You always think that when they put you on assignment.”

“And you know why!” Gadreel snapped. Paranoia didn't bring out his best qualities.

“Mr. Edlund forgave you a long time ago,” Hannah tried to reassure him. “He is about to take on a new body, he soon won't care about what you allowed to happen to his old one.”

Gadreel's jaw set. “I didn't allow it to happen! I had no idea what Lucifer would do, he told me-”

“That he was correcting some problems in the genome. I know. Everyone knows,” Hannah replied. “Gadreel, you must learn to let it go. There is no point in clinging onto the past.”

“You aren't the one who spent six years in confinement and was then assigned only the most dangerous missions,” Gadreel pointed out.

Hannah sighed and gave up her proofreading. She doubted very much that the demon would pause to examine them for long. Her head was pounding.

“I cannot afford to fail this mission, I must redeem myself to Michael,” Gadreel muttered, half to himself. “And I can't do that if I don't know what the true purpose of this mission is.”

She rubbed at her temples and closed her eyes against the bright lights of the small office room they had set up for the demon's arrival with zero-two.

“Hannah?” Gadreel's concerned voice prompted her to open her eyes.

“What is it?” She asked, already scanning the room for any problems.

“You weren't responding when I spoke to you,” Gadreel said, still sounding concerned. “Are you still suffering from headaches?”

She nodded and tamped down on her own fear. She hadn't heard him ask her anything since she'd shut her eyes.

They were prevented from further worry by their radios alerting them to the demon's arrival.

Gadreel left to lead their quarry into the office, returning shortly followed by a blonde with a graphic t-shirt and a bad attitude.

“Where is zero-two?” Hannah asked as the door closed without the entrance of anyone other than Gadreel and the demon.

“Not here,” Ruby responded with a vicious smile. “I'm not stupid, I know you'll take advantage if I bring him in here. No, he's safe outside somewhere you won't find him.”

Hannah squinted. “That was not the arrangement.”

Ruby raised a challenging eyebrow. “I like to keep people on their toes.”

Hannah hesitated, but handed over the documents. After all, the deal as far as Ruby knew was their safety for information. She was impressed by how carefully the demon seemed to read it over. She didn't seem as though she'd have the patience. 

“Pen?” Ruby asked after some time.

Pulling one from the briefcase on the table next to her, Hannah handed over a pen.

Ruby paused before signing, looking a little more closely at some of the wording before signing her name in the spaces Hannah had marked with an 'X'. “Okay then. Time for me to go. You'll get a text with Lucifer's location as soon as I'm safely away from the building.” She stood, taking her copy of the contract with her.

Hannah nodded cautiously and watched as she left.

Ruby headed out, shooting her preprogrammed text off to Michael as she neared the car. It read: 'check your backyard. Puppy's coming home'.

Ruby smirked at her own joke and swirled her car keys around her fingers.

The car looked as it had when she'd left it, complete with sleeping clone boy propped up against the passenger window. Only her gut instincts, fine-tuned by years of bad luck and a dangerous career, made her alter her path and keep walking through the parking lot.

Mere moments after she'd left Gadreel and Hannah entered the parking lot.

“Where is she?” Hannah asked.

Gadreel nodded in the direction Ruby had taken. “She left. I think she suspected something was wrong.”

Hannah frowned. “She left him?”

They both looked at Sam, drooling against the glass of Ruby's car.

“She's still here,” Gadreel stated, looking around.

“She is,” Hannah drew her weapon.

They had backup close by, but they were expected to be able to handle the situation themselves. They had some value to prove since they let the very same pair get away so recently.

Gadreel stayed by the car while Hannah crept around the edge of the parking lot in the direction that Ruby had gone.

Ruby waited until the security officer was close before she abandoned her hiding place. She could handle ranged weapons just fine, but close quarters was always her thing. Rough and personal. She had Hannah backed up against a car in seconds, weapon knocked aside and pretty neck pinned by the light press of a knife blade.

Hannah made a small noise of frustration and used the leverage of her hips and legs to push Ruby away. The demon stayed close and they circled for a moment. Ruby grinned while Hannah scowled.

Hannah made an aborted lunge, instead swinging her leg low to catch Ruby's supporting ankle.

Ruby laughed as she danced backwards before the kick could land. She didn't make an attack herself just yet, waiting for Hannah to show her hand, get frustrated enough to make a mistake. They went on the same way for some time, Ruby avoiding Hannah's attacks and goading her into more and more risky moves.

Gadreel stayed at a distance, guarding the car against any accomplices.

Hannah landed a kick to Ruby's inner thigh and Ruby stumbled, caught off guard. Done playing, Ruby darted in under Hannah's defensesuddenly enough that Hannah staggered backwards.

Gadreel had enough. He raised his gun and fired a round, narrowly missing his colleague and catching Ruby, who managed to move fast enough to catch the bullet in her arm instead of her chest.

Hannah turned in shock and Ruby bowled her over and stomped on her knee, barely pausing to do so before lunging for Gadreel, who got off two more shots which both missed and hit nearby cars before she was on him, pulling his arms aside to aim the gun away and aiming a solid knee at his middle. He pulled away and aimed a punch, which Ruby dodged before coming in with a hook from her good arm, making him stumble back before kicking him in the knee and elbowing him in the head.

Hannah had managed to stumble up behind her, getting a punch to Ruby's mouth in as the demon turned to face her.

Ruby ducked the next hit and came up with an uppercut before shoving Hannah back and off balance. The two security officers were already recuperating, readying to go again as Ruby rushed to get into the car. She got the door open and one leg in before she was pulled out again and dragged away from the car. She twisted to kick her assailant in the head, finishing the movement by rolling over and crawling a little way away and scrambled to her feet.

By the time she turned around there were three more security officers stood by the car. Ruby was good, but five on one was more than she could handle, especially since they were all armed.

She spared one last pained glance at Sam's unconscious face and she fled.

\---

“Bela?”

A pause before Bela replied, voice tinny over the long distance call. “Who is this?”

“It's Ruby,” Ruby rolled her eyes, she knew damn well Bela had her on caller ID.

“Oh!” Bela said with an obvious exaggeration of surprise. “It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ruby suppressed a sigh and focused. “I need your help.”

“Of course,” Bela sounded bored. “Is it urgent? Only I have a pedicure and dinner with a client.”

“I wouldn't call if it wasn't,” Ruby pointed out.

Bela laughed. “I'm hurt.”

Ruby clenched her fist and focused on the task at hand. “I need information.”

“You do realizewe're even? I held up my end of the deal over a year ago, and passed on your little message just yesterday as a bonus, even though I still don't know what it was about,” Bela paused, “But then I'm always there for a friend.”

Ruby couldn't resist a snort at that. “I need to know about the resistance group you gave the message to.”

Bela went quiet.

“Bela!” Ruby snapped, fast losing patience.

“What do you want to know?” Bela asked with smooth calm, voice too carefully steady to be genuine.

“I need to know where they are,” Ruby told her. “I need their help with something.”

“I thought you needed _my_ help with something,” Bela said, voice back to her usual slightly sneering charm.

“I need help from a lot of people.”

“Can't your lord and savior help?” Bela asked bitterly.

Ruby hesitated a moment. “He's part of the reason I need help.”

“Well, I never thought I'd see the day,” Bela sounded pleased, “What made you realizehe's an arsehole?”

“It doesn't matter,” Ruby said firmly, “Are you going to help me or not?”

“To get one over on the bastard that stole my life? Absofuckinglutely,” Bela said with conviction. “Charlie is currently holed up in some abandoned house in Lawrence. I don't know more than that about her location, but she wanted my help with a trafficking issue. Needed a new identity for a clone she got out. I think he's with her. She's got all the digital stuff down, she just needed me to get him an actual life and history. The kind of things you need hard copies for.”

“So she'll be sending you the address?” Ruby asked, wanting to get to the point.

“Exactly. I told her I'd have them ready in a week, I wanted some time to figure out who it was she was harboring. I can call her back and tell her I struck lucky,” Bela explained.

Ruby laughed, “I wondered why the hell you were giving me free info. You want me to tell you what's going on with your new lover.”

Bela scoffed, “Hardly. You of all people know I don't do monogamy darling. No, I know what's going on. I just want to know which one she has with her.”

Ruby froze. “Why?”

“Why do you think? Lucifer's clone or Michael's clone. Either one a huge bargaining chip, but Lucifer's...” Bela's voice turned vicious, “You think I'm going to pass up an opportunity like that?”

“She has Michael's,” Ruby couldn't help the coldness and slight threat in her tone. She didn't want to contemplate what Bela wanted to do to Sam.

“Shame,” If Bela noticed the hostility, she didn't show it. “I'll get the address to you within an hour.”

“And what do you want?” Ruby asked, knowing there was always a price, always a tradeoff.

“I'll let you know,” Bela said sweetly, making Ruby shiver. “In the meanwhile helping you stick it to Lucifer is good enough.”

“Speak to you later then,” Ruby said, wanting to spend the time picking up replacements for all the things she had to leave in her car.

“Uhuh,” Bela replied, sounding distracted. Ruby could hear papers being flicked through in the background. “Take care of Luci mark five. He's got more uses than a good fuck.”

The line cut off.

Ruby looked down at her phone. “Fuck.”


	12. Chapter 12

Dean played pool for six hours while the computer whizzes did their thing as well as having done the same for the entirety of the day before. He was bored as hell but the worst part was knowing Sammy was in danger and sitting on his ass doing nothing about it. It wasn't even as though he _couldn't_ do anything about it. He could have refused to stay behind, insisted on going to join Bobby in Detroit. The only thing that made him feel less like crap was the fact that Cas was there. Cas had got him away from Alistair and Michael both, Cas had helped him find Sam the first time around. As soon as the time was right, Cas would get Sam the fuck away from Michael's even more psychotic brother.

He looked at his watch again and yawned, not from tiredness but from idleness. He could go back to watching TV and pestering Cas who was sat watching a nature documentary but he resisted. Then he would be literally as well as metaphorically sitting on his ass.

Instead he wandered over to where Garth was monitoring security messages among Michael's people. He met Garth's eyes and waited.

Garth smiled good naturedly at him. “What can I do you for, Dean?”

“So, you've been a rebel or a member of the resistance or whatever for years, right?” Dean asked.

“Sure, only real reason I joined up at the compound,” Garth answered, somehow managing to keep checking the updates at the same time as giving Dean a thousand watt smile that said 'you have my full attention'.

“So why didn't Bobby ask you to help when Sam first went missing?” Dean had been wondering ever since he found out who Crowley's contact was.

Garth shrugged. “He didn't know, I guess. It's not 'xactly something you go sharing about.”

Dean nodded and dug around in his mind for something else to say. Coming up short, he sighed and got up to get a beer from the mini fridge.

“Um, guys?” Garth said once Dean had given up and gone to join Cas watching his documentary, “We've got a problem. Michael's on the move.”

“What?” Charlie squeaked, “He doesn't know where we are, right? Please tell me he doesn’t know where we are.”

“No, it's not us he's going after,” Garth answered, looking straight at Dean.

“Sam...” Dean all but whispered, beer can crinkling in his grip.

“He's found out where Lucifer is. Word is, he and all the best goons are headed there now,” Garth threw his company cell at Charlie who caught it and read the messages.

“Son of a bitch!” She swore and looked to Cas. “How are we going to get Sam out if Michael's people are there too? Our people aren't prepared for that.”

Cas looked just as troubled as anyone. “We'll have to slow them down somehow. I'll go back to the compound, I have friends there still. We can-”

“No,” Dean shook his head. “That won't stop him. Besides, I need you to go rescue Sam.”

Cas stood up, “Dean the others-”

“Need you. You're not telling me these guys managed to get people working on the inside but Lucifer didn't,” Dean turned to the others, “No offence guys. You're awesome, but Lucifer has way more resources, and you can bet that if we know then he knows, and he's gonna have tightened up security. You won't be able to do this alone.”

Charlie nodded reluctantly. “He's right. Lucifer relied heavily on no one knowing where he is. Now that the secret's out, he'll be calling in every demon on the pay roll. We'll be outnumbered as it is. We could really do with someone who's actually been trained for this.”

“Someone needs to stop Michael,” Cas argued.

“Yeah. Me,” Dean spoke firmly. “He's not gonna stop for anything less. I'll head over to the compound. Maybe I can even do something to help Anna while I'm there, I don't know. But Michael will turn around as soon as he knows I'm there. Sam's only a priority as long as he's leverage. If he has me, he doesn't need Sam.”

Everyone stared in mute horror and Dean shifted uncomfortably.

“Dean, you can't,” Cas spoke up at last. “I can't guarantee we can get you out again.”

Dean smiled, “I know, Cas.”

The security officer resumed his horrified silence.

“I'd need to come with so I could access their systems. I'd imagine a big security place like Edlund and Sons would have a closed system, but they won't be looking for me. I can find my own way in and from there...” Charlie waved her hands about, “I can cause enough trouble to get us out.”

“You should call Jo,” Ash's voice came disembodied from behind the other desk, startling them all. His head peered over the veritable mountain of computing equipment and squinted at them with sleepy eyes. “You're gonna need a getaway driver and she's great with a gun and you've seen her behind the wheel.”

Charlie took a breath and held it a moment. “It's a valid plan.”

“No it isn't,” Cas snapped.                             

Charlie reached across and rubbed his arm in sympathy.

“You know I'm gonna do it anyway,” Dean told him, “Trust me, I don't want to. I want to go with you to get Sam, but this is the best option. I'm the only one who can get Michael to call off his dogs.”

“Then I'll go with you,” Cas replied promptly, as Dean somehow knew he would.

Dean shook his head again. “I told you, I need you with them.” He softened at Cas's lost expression. “Look, you know what Sammy means to me. You know. And I need you to save him. You're the only one I trust to do it,” He glanced guilty around, “Again, no offence guys, but Cas got me out. I know he can do it.”

Ash raised a hand from where he was still slumped in front of a computer, though his attention was on the conversation, “It's all good bro.”

Charlie shrugged and nodded.

Garth grinned, “None taken buddy. But you know, my cover still isn't blown. I can get you in and stick around for a while. Up your chances in there.”

Dean suppressed the doubtful look he wanted to give the weedy, goofy looking man in favor of a grateful smile, “That'd be great.” After all, the guy had maintained a cover at the same time as feeding the rebels info for god knows how long.

Cas still didn't look convinced.

With a sigh, Dean stepped closer and forcibly caught Cas' eye. “Please buddy. Call it a tradeoff. You rescue my sibling, I'll rescue yours.” He watched Cas's shoulders slump and knew he was winning. “I'll have Garth and Charlie and your buddies Rachel and Balth. I'll be fine.”

“I suppose I can find some relief in knowing that we'll be just as likely to die as each other. I won't have to hear about it if you fail,” Cas grumbled.

\---

It took surprisingly little time to plan and to mobilizeand Dean found his head spinning from it all. Anxiety gripped him when he realizedthat Cas, who had been with him nearly the whole time since he left what used to be his home, was now going in the opposite direction. He might never see him again.

He ran to the bathroom, mumbled excuses thrown out at worried faces, and spent some time splashing cold water on his face again and again until his skin tingled with the chill. He breathed deep and slow, forcing his hands to relax from their death grip on the sink. “You did fine without him for twenty-six years,” Dean murmured to himself, deliberately ignoring the part where only days after leaving the safe confinement he'd grown up in he'd ended up being tortured and trying to kill himself. One last splash and deep breath, then he went back into the living room where the others were gathered.

Ellen clapped a hand on his shoulder without further acknowledgement and he soaked in the contact.

“So, I managed to get into a few traffic cameras, they won't see us coming even if they're looking, and we'll be able to keep an eye on Michael and his guys,” Charlie told Dean, “Ash made us passes to get inside so we have a chance to get to Anna and Cas's friends before we're discovered.”

Ash grinned, eyes slightly glazed from the weed he'd thought Ellen hadn't noticed him smoke twenty minutes ago. “Yup. You won't be in the system, but you'll be able to open any door. Old CIA trick,” He handed Dean a piece of plastic with a few wires criss crossing the back attached to a tiny black square. “A little less elegant maybe, but she'll work just fine.”

“Thanks,” Dean told him, pocketing the pass card and swinging his back pack over his shoulder.

Ash reached towards him, “Look after yourself big guy.”

“You too,” Dean told him and hesitantly grasped the hand Ash held out to him. He was immediately pulled in for a bro hug and patted roughly on the back.

Ellen was just stepping up for her turn when Garth bounced on the spot a couple of times before rolling his eyes and grabbing Dean and Ellen who were closest to him, “Come on guys, group hug!” He gestured the others in who joined with some amusement, apart from Cas who had to have the tiny guy pull him in bodily and crush him into the center of the hug.

Cas looked faintly terrified.

Dean laughed and tried to be subtle about getting one of his arms around just Cas, needing that last contact before he could leave.

The hug broke at last and Dean headed outside to get in the car while Garth rushed back for something he'd left in the basement and Charlie went for a last minute bathroom break before they set off. He didn't notice Cas follow him out until he shut the car door after flinging his backpack inside and turned around. He startled, “Jesus, Cas! Don't sneak up on me like that.”

“I wasn't-” Cas shook his head and discarded the subject. “I came out to say goodbye properly. We've shared a lot, you and I. A group hug didn't seem appropriate.”

Dean grinned. “Yeah, I thought the same.”

Cas's mouth flickered with a smile and he stepped even further into Dean's personal space. His eyes dropped to the floor a moment before he looked back up and met Dean's eyes. “As it's likely at least one of us will not survive this,” he started, a dry, black humor seeping into his tone that Dean might not have noticed had he not spent so much time in close proximity to him, “I'd like you to know that in spite of the circumstances, I consider you a friend. Whatever the outcome, I'm glad that I met you and that we had this time together.”

Dean felt his eyes prickle and his throat swell and cleared his throat gruffly. “Yeah. Same. I mean, it's been...” he didn't know how to complete that sentence. Instead he restarted, “Lately pretty much everything has sucked balls, but the little that hasn't has been because of you,” God, he was being such a sap. He rubbed the back of his neck and focused on a spot just past Cas's shoulder. “So, you know. Don't die, okay?”

That got a full on smile and Dean was transfixed by the way Cas's nose wrinkled up and his lips pulled open enough to display his gums. It was so open and genuine that Dean almost couldn't believe it was the same person that he'd met in a motel room and had to beg for pain relief.

“Dean?” Cas asked, head tilted to the side in puzzlement.

Dean realized Cas had been speaking to him and fought for something to say that wasn't 'you have a real pretty smile'.  “Uh, sorry. What was that?”

Cas breathed a near silent laugh. “I asked you if you had anything you wanted me to tell Sam.”

“Oh, right,” Dean gritted his teeth against the blush creeping up his neck. “I don't... Just tell him I lied. I'll still worry when I'm dead. I'll haunt his ass.”

Cas nodded.

“Anything for Anna?” Dean asked after a moment of silence.

Cas's shoulders slumped, “Stop doing things that terrify me and that I can't protect her from.”

Dean took a breath and made an agreeing noise. “Perks of being the older sibling, right?”

“If you call a massively reduced life span from worry a 'perk',” Cas replied dryly.

Dean chuckled and scuffed his shoe against the ground. “So, I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Yeah,” Cas shifted on the spot as if unsure of something.

Taking pity, Dean stepped forward and enveloped Cas in his arms, a gesture which Cas only tentatively returned. Dean barely felt the pressure from his friend's hands on his back before they pulled away. “See you around.”

Cas nodded and glanced back at the house, clearly lingering.

“I'll be fine,” Dean reassured him.

Another nod and Cas headed back towards the house.

A few seconds later Garth and Charlie emerged, prompting Dean to wonder if they'd been lying about why they stayed inside to give Cas and Dean alone time. He wouldn't put it past them.

“Ready?” Garth asked cheerily.

Dean grunted in response and they were off.

\---

Ruby drummed her fingers on the steering wheel in impatient frustration as the two men said goodbye. They'd been stood there five minutes at least and it was driving her crazy. She needed Dean alone, him she knew she could take. Castiel however was a problem. Last time she'd got backup before they could find out who would win that particular fight.

At long last the security officer disappeared only to be replaced by another, more junior officer. This guy wouldn't be too much trouble. The redhead with him though, who knew?

She tailed them in the car for a while, waiting for the houses to thin out before speeding up and overtaking. She slammed on the brakes and listened to the squeal of rubber as Dean did the same. Her gun was already in her hand as she left the car, pointing it straight through the windscreen at Dean. Dean had his window cracked and she was sure he could hear her. “Get out of the car and I swear I won't shoot you!”

Dean and Garth both climbed out, Garth completely unthreatening with a bewildered expression and his hands in his waistband. Dean looked like he was two seconds from mauling her. Charlie stayed in the backseat.

Ruby came as close as she thought prudent. “There's something you need to know.”

Dean snorted, “That you're a backstabbing bitch? Yeah, we got that already.”

“Listen dick head! I did not come out here for that shit. I had to ask a favor from my ex for this, and you're gonna fucking listen to what I have to say,” Ruby snarled.

Dean just raised his eyebrows.

“It's about Sam,” Ruby pressed.

Dean snorted, trying to cover for how fast his breathing had become. “He get the best of you? You look like crap that just got beaten up with a sledgehammer.

Ruby gave an insincere smile in return, “Yeah, well it turns out for all Michael's 'morals', he's been giving his little soldier boys and girls upgrades.”

That was news. “What do you mean 'upgrades?” Dean asked, “The security officers are wearing clones?”

This time Ruby's smile was genuine and malicious. “Yeah, your little boyfriend is a fucking hypocrite. Of course not all of them ride around in other people's bodies, but you can bet your ass someone as important as the hand-picked officer sent to retrieve Michael's very own clone will be in an upgraded meat suit.”

Dean pressed his lips together and waited for the urge to beat her to even more of a bloody pulp that she already was to subside. “So you had a run in with Michael's guys. What do you want from me? Sympathy?”

“I want you to help me get your brother back from Michael before your dickbag original does something awful to him to get back at you for running away,” Ruby snapped all in one breath. She paused and fumed while Dean let that sink in. “I got him out, away from Lucifer. Lucifer-” She ran a hand through her hair, “He lied to me.”

“Boohoo, my heart bleeds. Now where the fuck is my brother?” Dean asked, tone casual and mocking despite the dread seeping through his entire body.

“I just told you! Michael has him!” Ruby barely kept herself from shouting. “God! I know you don't like me, you have every reason to hate me, but I'm not asking you to be best buddies. I'm asking you to help me save your brother, something I wouldn't have thought I'd have to ask for.”

Dean stared pointedly at the gun until she lowered it and tucked it back into her jeans. “Of course I'll fucking help. But I'm gonna need more details than 'Michael's got him'. And more to go on than your ugly face being bashed up. For all I know you're just baiting me into a trap.”

“Would that really stop you?”

Dean inclined his head in acknowledgement of her point. “So where do we start?”

“We start with the fact that you have a free pass to the building while I'd be lucky to get within two miles before they shot me or dragged me in for a very painful game of truth or dare,” Ruby replied acidly, “Then we make use of the fact that Michael is very interested in keeping you intact.”

“Are you asking me to be your hostage?” Dean asked incredulously.

“Asking? Not so much,” Ruby told him. “You're doing this one way or the other, it's just that one way has a much better chance of saving Sam and keeping all of us alive.”

Dean glanced at Garth. “That won't be necessary. We got passes and we got friends inside.”

Ruby paused. “Fine. We'll go with your plan. But mine is plan B. The second we run into trouble I'm pressing a goddamn gun to your thick skull.”

Dean smirked and climbed back in their car. Leaning back out he called through the window, “Well what the fuck are you waiting for? Let's get going!”

Ruby rolled her eyes, grabbed her stuff from her car and stomped her way over. She climbed in the back next to a very confused Charlie.

Charlie's face took on a calculating look and she dialed Bela's number on her cell. She held up a silencing finger before Ruby could speak and waited for Bela to answer. When the cool, British voice answered Charlie looked ready to kill someone. “What the hell, Bela! Why is there a demon on my doorstep?”

Dean resisted the unmanly urge to giggle and instead smirked at the confused way that Ruby was eyeing Charlie's finger, as though she was trying to work out how that thin, fleshy digit had the power to silence her. His smirked dropped when he realizedwhere he'd heard the name 'Bela' before. “Wait, what? You're buddies with a black market clone trader?”

Charlie looked guilty for a moment before straightening and putting a hand over the phone to answer, “One, we're not 'buddies'. She has data I need about the brain scans of non-clones who get imprinted. And two, she's been out of the body trade for years now. Ever since she got out of her contract. She gave us that tip remember?”

“Actually, I gave you that tip,” Ruby muttered. Everyone ignored her.

Dean huffed but let Charlie get on with it. He supposed in the grand scheme of things talking to Bela was a good thing if it meant putting a stop to imprinting.

A confusing argument that Dean could only hear one side of later and they finally explained what Ruby was doing there and why Dean hadn't finished what Hannah and Gadreel started.

“Wait, so now you wanna save Sam?” Charlie asked dubiously. “Why?”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Because Lucifer told me one lie too many and Sam wore me down with his puppy dog eyes. He's sweet. Lucifer isn't.” She shrugged, “The world is better off without an extra Lucifer and plus one Sam.”

“Ugh,” Dean pulled a face. No way Ruby had a thing for Sam, it didn't bear thinking about.

“Two Lucifers?” Charlie's eyes widened in alarm. “He wants to keep his current imprint too?”

Ruby nodded. “Thinks he'll be able to achieve his world vision faster with more than one body. Plus I think he's a little in love with himself. Probably already masturbates in front of a mirror, having another him to fuck would probably be a dream come true.”

“Okay, you are gonna stop talking about people fucking my baby brother right the hell now!” Dean ordered. And he thought Ruby being into Sam was bad.

Ruby fell silent, staring at Charlie.

Charlie shifted, “What?”

“You're the nerdy one, right?” Ruby asked. At Charlie's resentful nod she continued, pulling a black rectangle from her bag, “Can you ~~to~~ increase the range on this? I need to be able to incapacitate within enough of a distance that Dean can get Sam out of his no doubt heavily guarded cell without getting tased or anyone calling more security.”

Charlie looked at the device a moment. “You do realize will affect you too, right?”

Ruby looked nervous for a moment but steeled herself. “I'll be fine. I've got ear plugs and even if I can't use them, they're not that interested in me, I'll have time to get back on my feet before there are too many of them on me.” She didn't sound convinced but Charlie nodded anyway. None of them could bring themselves to care too much if Ruby would get herself caught.

Charlie studied the thing intensely before reaching in her bag and beginning to dismantle it. “Wow, this is more complicated than it looks.” She dug out her laptop and fiddled with various cables until she had the thing connected. Lines of code popped up on her screen. “Oh my god.”

“What?” Ruby asked, leaning over to stare at the screen even though she had no idea what she was looking at.

“You might actually be useful,” Charlie muttered. She pulled up another file and highlighted a section of code.

Ruby huffed.

Charlie was gone, totally absorbed in the code as the others exchanged looks and eye rolls.

Dean focused on driving. It wasn't for another three minutes that the thought struck him. The others were headed in the wrong direction. He pulled out his cell, which Garth promptly snatched from his hands. “Dude!”

Garth shook his head, “Sorry, no, you're driving. Tell me who you wanna call.”

“Cas and Bobby, they need to know Michael has Sam,” Dean replied tetchily.

Garth's eyes widened, “Geez, that one totally slipped the mind. I'll let 'em all know. Hopefully they'll be able to come join us.”

\---

“Okay, we need a plan,” Charlie said twenty minutes after they pulled over and climbed into the impala. It hadn't been fun explaining Ruby to Jo.

Dean pulled a face. “We have a plan.”

Charlie snorted. “A half assed plan that was only supposed to get Anna and me out. This was kamikaze for you and we all know it. We just didn't say anything for Cas's sake. Things have changed, this is a rescue mission now.”

“Fine, genius. What would you recommend?” Dean snapped, tense and unable to focus on plan making when he was so close to Sam.

“Well, first we need to get everyone we can out...”

\---

“This is a very bad idea,” Charlie half sung to herself softly as she rounded the corner to Anna's lab where the pass codes she had would hopefully remain active. Ash's keycard had got her this far with ease, but it wouldn't do jack shit to Anna's computers.

Dean and Ruby were waiting in the car just off the road a mile back, each fighting for Jo's attention and preference and therefore control of the car radio.

Garth had come in with her and split off to do his part.                       

As she sunk back into the office chair by Anna's computer, she couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness and longing, taking half a second just to look at Anna's desk with its coffee mug rings and sheets of print outs, different colored pens scattered around. She shook the moment off and typed.

\---

The phone rung, going on for exactly three and a half rings before cutting off. Dean and Ruby exchanged glances, for once united, and Jo floored it.

They arrived at the lab to a swarm of people streaming from the exits as fire alarms blared, and they carefully picked their way through, always sure to keep at least three scientists between them and anyone who looked like security or management. It was almost too easy getting into the building.

_“Second, we need to get Sam. He's priority, if we don't get him they can hold him against us.”_

From there they followed Charlie's directions over the phone until they got to the holding cells. Dean shuddered a little as they entered the section, but Ruby was too preoccupied to comment.

Sam's cell was heavily guarded, Michael clearly taking no chances this time around, and they slammed to a halt thinking over their options.

Ruby turned to Dean. “Run. You're a bigger prize than me and Sam both. I can handle whoever stays.”

Dean looked conflicted.

“I wouldn't have come this far if I wasn't going to get him out, now run!” Ruby shoved at him and he stumbled off, his footsteps smoothing out into a run as the guards at the door started towards them. Ruby flattened herself to the wall as most of them went past after Dean and grinned at those remaining. “You're gonna wish you'd gone with them.”

\---

Garth grinned at the two tall, imposing blondes.

Rachel and Balthazar exchanged glances.

Balthazar examined Garth a moment before speaking. “ _You're_ the rescue party?” He asked doubtfully.

“Part of it,” Garth confirmed.

Rachel stepped up close, obviously hoping to unnerve him. “How do we know you're telling the truth?”

Garth's grin expanded. “Castiel told me about the ménage a twelve,” he disclosed, “Really that's just an orgy.”

Rachel looked horrified while Balthazar smirked.

“Kudos to you both on having such a secure relationship,” he congratulated them, “I'd feel so inadequate.”

Rachel's lips thinned. “Fine, what do we do?”

\---

Dean's feet pounded even louder than his heart as he all but skid around each corner, his pursuers gaining on him with every third step. He didn't realize he was going anywhere in particular until he was throwing himself through a door.

“Hello, Dean,” His own voice came from an uncomfortable looking chair in the corner of the room.

He jumped and spun around to face his original. “We weren't actually the ones doing the divide and concur thing, were we.” He stated flatly. That was why his pursuers never quite got close enough. They were herding him.

Michael smiled.

Dean stared blankly at the chair where he'd nearly had his life taken away. And now Cas wasn't here to save him, still likely hours away. He didn't have Sam or Charlie or Anna. He didn't even have Ruby. He swallowed against the panic and leveleda glare on the dick bag who was doing this to his family. “The hell are you smiling at? We got in didn't we?”

“Oh, I was waiting for you. Rumours of my departure were greatly exaggerated. I knew you'd do anything to protect Sam, and by making my assault on Lucifer known, you'd know I'd soon have him,” Michael stood. “And this way I get you, Sam and the pain in my ass who was behind this whole problem in the first place. Still, I guess some good came of it all. Our security is much better now.”

Michael pressed a button on his phone and a video feed came up. Ruby had dispensed with all but one of the four guards Dean had left her with, and Dean was feeling more than a little impressed by her despite everything, when she finally got the last one down for the count. She stepped into the cell they'd been guarding and the video feed switched cameras, automatically tracking her. She was in the cell alone.

Dean had to give her credit. She didn't stop to think or even look around the room to make absolutely sure, she just threw herself back against the door to prevent it from being shut on her. She almost made it out, too.

“She's smarter than you think. She'll get out of there,” Dean told Michael, mostly to say it out loud, reassure himself of its truth.

Michael laughed. “Oh, I've no doubt she will, but it won't do her any good. There is now no area in this building where she can't be seen,” He gave an amused eyebrow raise to Dean's stubborn expression. “Or are you thinking of that little black box she's got?”

Dean fought to keep his face from giving anything away.

“Yes, we were rather caught off guard by that the first time around. Unfortunately for her, it also affects Lucifer's abominations,” Michael's face twisted with distaste. “She'll be just as incapacitated as they will be. She won't be able to use it and not be too close to the initial sound wave.” His voice reeked of disgust and satisfaction. “As for your other friend, well. You'll soon see.”

Dean couldn't help his nervous swallow at that. They couldn't have Charlie or Garth already.

Michael pressed a button and a video feed came up of the door to Anna's lab, where he knew Charlie was hidden. “She's managed to lock us out, clever thing. But we have ways of getting in and she has no way out. Nowhere to go. Shame, she's got quite the brain. She'd have made a good asset to our development team.”

Dean gut roiled. “Why are you doing this? Why not just get it over with?”

Michael's face was disconcertingly blank, but Dean knew that muscle twitch.

Dean grinned mirthlessly. “You weren't expecting us to get this far. You're on your own in here with your younger, stronger model.”

Michael's glare could cut diamonds. “An unfortunate oversight. But I still have the upper hand.” A tap and the feed cut to another identical room to the one they were in. Sam was strapped into the chair while Naomi typed at a computer.

“Okay,” Dean's voice rasped. “Now what?”

“Oh, you think I'm done? You think I forgot about your savior from last time?” Michael taunted. “I'm just getting started. I know where you were hiding. I know who hid you. I know about dear old Robert Singer,” His smug smile returned. “I know where Castiel is.”

His stomach flipped and Dean felt sure he'd throw up.

 


	13. Chapter 13

Castiel had done a lot of things in his life that he wasn’t proud of. Most of them had been accomplished by following the orders of his employers and, while he’d justified those decisions then, he knew that they were wrong. Even then, he’d felt it in his gut. And now? Now Castiel _knew_ what he’d done was wrong.

The biggest mistake of his life, however, was taking over the body of James Novak. And he couldn’t even blame that on orders.

They’d made it sound so completely normal. They made it seem right. James had been created for the sole purpose of providing a future body for Castiel, what would be wrong with it? Dean changed that. Dean had the unique perspective of being the person who was lost for the sake of someone else, who gave up their existence for the purpose of giving someone a future body. Dean had been the explanation in vivid terms why Castiel’s use of James’ body was wrong. Castiel hadn’t regretted anything as strongly as he did the moment he’d realized that.

But he could atone. If Castiel could rescue Dean and Sam and the other clones in the community, then maybe Castiel could start to make up for the things he’d done. Castiel liked to think that James would have approved of this use of his body.

“How much longer?” Ellen asked from the passenger seat of the car. They'd picked her up as quickly as possible once they'd received Charlie's call.

Castiel’s eyes flickered to the sign on the side of the highway. “Minutes. Ten at the most.”

“Does this hunk of junk go any faster?” Bobby asked of the tan old station wagon Castiel had hotwired.

Castiel pressed harder on the gas pedal and the station wagon found another three or four extra miles per hour that it could go. “I suppose it can.”

“Then let’s cut that time down a little, shall we?” Bobby asked. There was a click as he loaded the shotgun.

\---

On the screen, Dean watched as Ruby beat her fists on the door before giving up rather quickly and beginning a search of the room. He turned back to Michael. “What game are you playing?”

“I tried to be nice, Dean. I tried to compromise with you. So now you have a choice. Sam or Castiel? Because I won’t save both. One of them is getting wiped and you can pick which. That’s punishment for running away. You try again and I’ll wipe the other one as well,” Michael said. “And then Robert Singer. Ellen Harvelle. Charlie Bradbury. I’ll systematically go through every person who has helped you until you learn your place.”

“My place?” Dean asked, bitterly.

Michael stood and Dean could see there was a slight weakness to him. Michael was fading fast. He needed his new body. “You were created for me. Your body is for my purposes and my purposes alone. My father set rules in place for…for marionettes without strings. I am not going to continue negotiating with something that is little more than a talking puppet.”

Dean stiffened. “Then you’re going to have to fight me into that chair yourself.”

Weakened or not, Michael seemed to find the strength to straighten his back. “So be it.”

\---

“Does anyone have a plan to get through the gate?” Castiel asked, as the entrance to Edlund and Sons grew larger and larger upon approach.

Ellen snorted, shifted her foot across and pressed down on the top of Castiel’s. The car bucked forward, speeding ahead. “Yeah, I’ve got one.” They hit the gates at a hundred and twenty miles an hour. Metal screeched and gave in a matter of milliseconds. Sparks flew and the now deformed gates snapped apart and inwards. The guards stationed there ~~yelled and~~ shouted, demanding that they come to a stop. They were too late as Castiel swerved around on the winding road leading up to the building, and was out of range of their yelling.

“Ready?” Bobby asked. “Got two more cars coming behind us with backup. Just us and eight of our closest allies.”

“It may not be enough,” Castiel said.

Before them, a line of security officers – many of which Castiel recognized – stood with loaded weapons. Castiel pulled the car to a stop. Silence from both sides, waiting. Ellen scoffed and shot out the window. “This ain’t an old west movie. Let’s get shit done.”

Both sides began firing.

\---

Michael slammed Dean up against the wall. Weakened as he might be, Michael still had four lifetimes of learning how to fight on him. “This futile attempt at getting away will be for nothing and will only earn my wrath against Sam and Castiel.”

Dean couldn’t lose. He couldn’t. The faintest sounds of gunfire made it through the walls. “You won’t lay a finger on them.”

Michael hit Dean in the throat and then kneed him in the solar plexus. Dean bent half over and Michael grabbed Dean’s hair. “I am done playing games. Get in the chair and maybe I will generously spare Sam.”

Dean sucked in a breath. “You son of a-”

Michael hauled him up and threw him bodily into the chair. “It sounds like your white knight has breachedthe walls. If he gets here before the imprinter does then he will die.”

\---

Garth hummed as he worked, something which made Rachel twitch and Balthazar grin in amusement.

“Why are we waiting here?” Rachel snapped at last. “We're doing nothing while you... Whatever it is you are doing.”

Garth grinned up at her from the mess of wires. “Don't worry. We got a plan.”

“Which you have explained three times and which sounded just as foolish the third time as the first,” She replied, fiddling with the small package he'd given her.

He finished twisting the final wires together and stepped back, peeling off one glove with his teeth and reaching for his cell phone. The dial tone was cut off before it managed to complete a single ring.

“You done?” Charlie asked.

Garth nodded even though she couldn't see him, “Yep. All clear.”

Charlie's tense exhale crackled through the phone line. “Don't let anyone near it. We probably won't have time to fix it.”

“Sure,” Garth replied cheerily, the pressure gliding right off him.

“Shit!” Charlie swore. “They've got Ruby and we can't find Sam.”

“I'll go,” Rachel said, and Garth raised his eyebrows at her hearing. “I'll get the demon out first, she has the weapon with her. Your friend should check camera three-forty-six for zero-two.”

Garth relayed the message. Rachel was gone by the time Charlie accessed the camera. This time her swearing was rather more explosive.

\---

Dean struggled, managing to keep one arm free as Michael forced the restraints on him. “Not such a big fan of your dad's now, are you? Forcing me into this. What happened to consent?”

Michael looked vaguely surprised. “I already have your consent in triplicate.”

Dean's laugh was ugly and desperate. “Consent can be revoked. And I am revoking. I am revoking big time.”

Michael nodded regretfully, “I understand.” He finally managed to get Dean's free arm into the restraint. “But I'm the only one who will ever know, so it's a moot point really.”

The door opened and Dean's heart pounded with fierce hope as Anna walked in, though that hope quickly evaporated when she walked over to the computer and typed in a password. She looked up at Michael. “We're ready.”

Michael grinned, eyes creasing almost pleasantly at the corners. “Goodbye Dean.”

“Anna!” Dean pleaded.

“Oh, I nearly forgot you knew her,” Michael lied casually, “Dr. Milton here was a valuable asset, one that Naomi was too quick to dispose of last time. This time we did a little reprogramming instead.”

\---

Charlie studiously ignored the noises coming from beyond the lab door and watched the security footage showing Sam in an imprinting chair. “C'mon guys, get in there!” She muttered to herself.

The door swung open with a bang and Charlie jumped to her feet, gun in hand.

“Charlie,” Cas greeted, stepping over the bodies of Michael's security officers that definitely hadn’t been there before. “Where's Dean?”

After a brief moment of wide eyed stupor over Cas’s victims, Charlie frowned. She checked the security cameras again with a faint feeling of dread. “I don't know. I can't see him,” She admitted. “Hopefully he got to Anna by now, the cells are the only places without cameras. Well apart from Sam's.” She hesitated, “Cas. They're going to wipe Sam.”

Cas's face went still in a way that Charlie was not ashamed to admit terrified her. “Where is Sam?”

Charlie gave him the directions and he was gone. A few moments later two red faced and panting rebels stopped at the lab door.

“Oh, hell! He's already run off again,” Bobby huffed out.

“What happened to the door?” Ellen asked.

Charlie gestured to the bodies on the floor.

Ellen nodded and looked down at the four corpses, all tall and well-muscled, who had carried both tasers and guns. “And what the hell happened to them?”

Charlie glanced in the direction Cas had run in, “Um...”

Minutes later, she and Ellen watched on the security camera as Cas powered his way through several security officers, entered the backup imprinting lab and shot Naomi in the head without pause. He was unstrapping Sam from the chair when Ruby and Rachel entered.

Ruby went straight to Sam, checking him over for injury despite Sam's cold glare.

Ruby dialedCharlie, and Charlie answered.

“Sam's fine. A little drugged up, but otherwise hunky-fucking-dory. Now how do we find his douche bag brother?” Ruby asked.

Charlie worried at her lip with her teeth. “With Anna,” She prayed.

“We've got incoming,” Ellen pointed to a screen showing figures approaching Cas and the others, “And they don't look like security.”

Charlie breathed out and lowered her fingers to the keyboard.

\---

Cas felt as if his body was about to fly apart, everything loose and stiff with exhaustion at the same time. His injured side was throbbing and he was fairly sure he'd pulled another stitch (he'd done so exactly six times since being stabbed by Alistair), but he couldn't stop, couldn't slow. Not until he found Anna and Dean.

He nearly ran headfirst into Lucifer's men.

Sam was still a little loopy, but it didn't stop him from nearly falling in shock and fear as he stumbled to a stop behind Cas, Ruby and Rachel just behind him.

“What is this?” Castiel spat.

Lucifer chuckled, “Ruby, do you want to explain?”

Ruby smiled back and walked forwards to just in front of Castiel, casually squeezing his hand as she went. “I called him.”

Sam felt sick. This couldn't be happening again. No, he actually really was going to be sick. He turned into the wall while he heaved and spluttered.

“Rachel?” Castiel asked, noting his friend's inappropriate calm. He peered over Ruby's shoulder to Lucifer who was grinning at the demon. He used her body as cover to open the box Ruby had pressed into his hand.

Rachel stared up into a security camera. She pulled earplugs from her pocket and nodded to the box Ruby had given Cas before putting them in.

Cas followed suit, shooting more puzzled looks at Rachel as he did so.

Ruby dug her own earplugs from her pocket.

Lucifer's expression changed from smug to confused to panicked in the brief time it took for her to put them in. He went to speak.

Ruby winked at Sam and held her thumb up to the camera.

\---

“Begin.” Michael ordered.

Anna typed and Dean's world became blinding white.

\---

_Charlie grinned, turning over Ruby's device in her hands, “Third, we need to stop the bastards once and for all.”_

The building filled with a high pitched noise.

\---

Dean blinked up at the ceiling.

“He's awake,” Sam's voice pierced his skull.

Anna's face hovered over his, shining a small torch into his eyes.

Memory hit Dean and he sat up straight, grabbing Anna's wrists as he did so. He looked around. He was still in the chair, though the restraints had been removed and the chair was tilted at an angle.

Sam was stood at his side, the demon bitch just behind him while one of Cas' friends stood staring dispassionately at Michael's twitching form lying at her feet.

Cool hands gently pried his from Anna's wrists and he looked up into familiar blue eyes.

He blinked a few times in confusion.

“It's alright, Dean,” Cas soothed, face oddly defeated. He looked devastated. Dean wanted to do anything he could to take that expression away and make the man give that almost smile that Dean liked to stare at.

“What-” Dean started but sounds from outside interrupted him.

Footsteps pounded and squeaked in the corridor outside and Charlie flung herself into the room, tripping over Michael. She glanced at him and shrieked. “It worked!”

“Not quite,” Cas said grimly, gesturing to Dean.

Charlie looked alarmed for a moment before her eyes latched onto Anna. “You wiped him?”

Anna's face shadowed with guilt, “I did,” She met Cas's gaze pleadingly, “I'm sorry I-”

“Jesus, would you guys shut up a second! My head hurts like a mother,” Dean rubbed his temples, ignoring everyone's shocked stares.

“Dean?” Sam asked tentatively.

“Yes! I'm me, not a vegetable. Now shut the fuck up and let me adjust,” Dean snapped. He wasn't even interested in knowing _why_ he wasn't a vegetable until his head stopped pounding.

A moment of silence reigned until Charlie coughed and then whispered, “So... Why is Dean not a vegetable?”

Anna looked just as confused. “I don't know.” She went over to the computer, “I was experimenting with the code before I left to give it to you. I hid it in a virus and uploaded it to the imprinting system, but it didn't work. I figured when Kevin disabled the virus he also deleted the code somehow.”

“Can we save the explanations for later,” Ruby didn't bother lowing her voice and ignored the glare she got from Dean, “A lot of Lucifer's men are just that. No imprints. We need to get out of here before they find us.”

Cas nodded and pulled Dean to his feet, wrapping one of Dean's arms over his shoulders and gripping his waist.

Ruby peered around the doorway before nodding and taking the lead.

Sam took Dean's other side, and supported by his brother and his friend, Dean stepped over the vacantly staring Michael.


	14. Chapter 14

Getting out of the building was harder than getting in. There were enough normal humans on both Michael and Lucifer's side that evasion was better than fighting.

Ruby and Rachel brought up the front and rear as Charlie chatted quietly on the phone to get the locations of the others. Slowly their group gained four strangers from the rebels who had followed Cas, Bobby and Ellen in, then Bobby and Ellen themselves.

They were halfway from meeting Garth and Balthazar where they'd been guarding Ruby's frequency bomb, new and improved and patched into the PA system. They'd managed to avoid any fights thus far and they all froze when a dark haired woman came stumbling around the corner, gun drawn.

“Hannah?” Cas asked cautiously.

Hannah blinked hard and swayed where she stood. “Castiel?” She gripped her head and shrieked. “Where am I?” Hannah asked, though to Dean's ears she sounded like a different person. She fell and they all made their way past her.

“I'm sorry,” Cas told her sorrowfully as they past.

“I think I know what happened,” Charlie said just before they reached the exit.

The others paid her half an ear as they made their way warily out into the courtyard.

“Your virus code didn't get disabled, it just didn't work properly,” Charlie explained to Anna as they got further out in the open. “It stopped the original from being wiped, but it pushed it into the subconscious. It left the floor open for imprints. But when I upgraded the frequency bomb, I used bits of your code to get it to permanently disrupt new imprints. I think maybe it had a side effect.”

Anna looked at her, surprised, “It reactivated the original personality.”

Charlie nodded. “Exactly.”

Five of Lucifer's goons stood between them and the cars, and to their left a division of Michael's security was defending the entrance from behind cover.

They all dropped low to avoid being caught in the cross fire. “How the hell do we get across that?” Dean asked, panicked.

Sam made to leave the group, throwing over his shoulder, “We need a diversion.”

Dean immediately followed. “You stay, I'll go.”

Sam pulled a face, “No, I'm going. I've got a plan.”

Dean glanced between Sam and Cas, “I'll come with.” He stopped his little brother's argument before it could begin, “I came all this way to get you, I'm not splitting from you now.”

“Dean,” Cas called, looking desperate. He was holding off Michael and Lucifer's teams from approaching and he couldn't go with them.

Dean smiled, “I'm good. You get the others out. I'm counting on you, these are good people.”

Cas caught his arm, “Wait.”

“Cas?” Dean asked with a small frown.

After a moment of staring, Cas let Ellen take over for him completely for a moment. “I want you to know, all of this, everything I did since meeting you. It was all for you.”

Dean forgot how to breathe.

“The passion you had, the determination to save your brother,” Cas continued, “You were everything that Michael was not. I couldn't take you back.” He pulled Dean closer and said too quiet for anyone else to hear, a near secret, “I was never going to take you back.”

Dean could feel his throat swelling and his eyes prickling, and he didn't have time for this, dammit. He pulled away gently, “We're finishing this later.” 

Cas nodded with an almost smile and resumed shooting at the enemy.

\---

Dean and Sam made their way through the bathrooms to get to the other side of the entrance without being seen, passing each open stall with wariness.

“What do you think he meant?” Dean asked halfway through. He was struggling to concentrate on the task at hand, mind drawn continually back to those whispered words.

Sam's brow creased in distracted confusion. “Who?”

“Cas!” Dean replied, “What did he mean when he said...”

“That he did it all for you?” Sam shot him a look of exasperation, “Probably that he did it all for you. Do we have to talk about this right now?”

“Yes!” Dean snapped, “I need to know what to say to him when I see him again.” He looked down at the floor and added under his breath, “If I see him again.”

“Dean, don't be such an idiot. You know exactly what he meant,” Sam told him. “Now can we get back to what we're doing?”

“Bitch,” Dean pouted.

Sam grinned back, “Jerk.”

\---

“So,” Bobby spoke in-between gunfire, “You and Dean, huh?”

Cas glanced at Bobby, “No. Dean has shown little to no interest in me romantically.”

Bobby snorted. “The boy trusts you. If you had any idea how huge that is for him, especially after knowing you less than a week, you'd realize he's shown a lot of interest.”

A bullet nearly hit Cas and he was so busy staring at Bobby that he didn't even see which side had shot it.

“Don't look so shocked. He stares at your ass enough,” Ellen snarked from his other side.

Cas frowned. He hadn't noticed. “Why hasn't he said anything?”

“He's been a little busy worrying about his brother and saving his own skin,” Bobby retorted, “Probably hasn't even figured it out himself yet.”

“Then how have you?”

“Don't take a genius, kid nearly swooned when you said what you did,” Bobby turned his full attention back to shooting as Lucifer's people pushed forward.

Cas, however, was not done with the subject. “What should I do?”

“Keep shooting,” Ellen replied.

Given that Lucifer's goons were getting ever closer, despite losing a large number of men, her advice seemed sound.

So far they'd avoided any casualties themselves, well behind cover and only a secondary focus in the war between Michael and Lucifer's followers, but it was only a matter of time. Already Garth and Charlie were out of ammo, Bobby not far from and Cas and Ellen close behind that. They didn't have a hope of getting through the storm of bullets intact and could only hope they weren't the only ones with limited ammunition.

Cas was loading his last clip when they saw them.

Dean and Sam were on a small balcony above the entrance, both such easy targets that Cas felt his heart shrivel with fear.

“Stop!” Dean called authoritatively. “That is enough!”

With some level of confusion, Michael's men stop shooting, though they didn't lower their weapons.

“It's too late,” Dean told Lucifer's followers as they used the lull to get closer and several took aim at the balcony. “Lucifer is dead.”

Sam stepped in front of his brother when even more guns pointed at Dean.

The guns lowered. They'd all been briefed on Lucifer's clone, now their only hope of getting their leader back.

“I'll hand myself in,” Sam shouted, arms wide, protecting Dean.

“Like hell he will,” Ruby muttered, but made no move to interfere as of yet.

“But first you have to let my friends go,” Sam continued, “Unharmed. Along with... With Michael. If you kill him, you kill my brother, and you can say goodbye to your chances of getting Lucifer back again.”

The guns lowered.

Dean stepped forwards and cleared his throat, “You will all let the rebels go,” He told Michael's people in a very convincing impression of the man himself. “They can no longer do us any harm.”

Cas shuddered at the image of what could have been. He had to forcedly remind himself that Dean was still himself that he had spoken to him only moments ago.

Both sides were eyeing each other suspiciously, but neither had much of a choice than to let the rebels through.

Once outside the compound, the rebels climbed into various vehicles, some their own, other's Lucifer's. There was no one to stop them, everyone having gone inside.

“Aww, what? I had to stay out here as getaway for nothing?” Jo complained when she saw them all come out cautiously rather than hurriedly.

Ruby and Cas exchanged glances. “Not quite,” The demon said.

Ellen stopped in the process of climbing into her truck. “What?”

“We're going back in,” Cas explained, “Dean and Sam will need help getting out. More than before. We'll still need a getaway.”

“Look, Cas I know to you this has always been about Dean,” Ellen protested, “And I love him too, I do. He's a good kid. But this was never about two boys, this was about a war. And we won today. Those boys gave us that. No more Michael, no more Lucifer. And that's what we've been fighting for.”

Cas stared in shock. “You were supposed to help him!” He snapped at last, “This was only possible because of him!”

Ellen just frowned sadly. “I know that. But going back in there now is suicide. Dean is in a good place to keep helping us, they think he's their boss, he's safe. He comes with us now, they'll know something's up. And he'll be hunted down. They both will.”

Bobby sighed, “She's right. He's better off where he is. Least for now.”

“And Sam?” Ruby folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “What about him? He just agreed to trade himself in for you. You're just gonna leave him there?”

“Dean won't let nothing happen to him,” Bobby reassured her.

Ruby snorted, “Who says he'll have a choice? We disabled half of Michael's men.”

Bobby looked torn.

Cas struggled for a moment before making a decision. “Go, then. We'll deal with this ourselves.”

Jo shoved the car door open and came out, “Oh no, I'm not going anywhere.”

Anna met Charlie's eyes and pulled free from her grip. “Me neither.”

“Then I'll stay too,” Charlie immediately returned.

Anna shook her head with a soft smile, “No. You need to go to the other compounds, spread the program. I'll try to do the same from my end.”

Cas blinked. “You're staying here? Even after we rescue Sam and Dean?”

Anna tilted her head, “I think we all are. Ms Harvelle here is right. Dean is in a good position here. All we need to do is find a way to reintegrate, it shouldn't be hard with the place a mess and 'Michael' in charge. We can make a difference from here.”

Ruby pulled a face, “And Sam?” She repeated.

“You were Lucifer's general, were you not?” Cas asked, plans already unfolding in his head.

“Yeah, and?” Ruby replied, “I still don't think I'll be able to convince them to leave Sam alone.”

“No, but we may be able to work something out with you being a go between,” Cas answered vaguely, mind elsewhere.

Rachel and Balthazar stepped forward as one. “We'll stay also,” Rachel said. “You have our assistance, Castiel.”

Balthazar smirked, “Yeah, Cassie. We'll help you and your boyfriend out again. But this is the last time, you hear? We do have other things we could be doing.”

“No point in us even coming,” Bobby muttered, “We're leaving more behind than we came to rescue.”

“As Ellen pointed out, this wasn't really a rescue,” Cas said coldly. It had always been a rescue to him.

“True enough,” Bobby sighed. “I would stay and help y'all but I'm getting too old for this. I'll be handy with a way out if you need any more clones smuggled.”

Garth grinned. “I'm with you, old man.”

Bobby glared at him.

Garth's smile didn't dim.

Ellen pulled Jo aside and they started talking in furious whispers. The others all avoided looking at them and tried to ignore their conversation.

“So I guess this is goodbye,” Charlie said unhappily.

“Oh, cheer up. We'll keep in contact,” Anna replied.

“I know, but it won't be the same,” Charlie argued.

“There's still phone sex,” Anna grinned.

Charlie spluttered. “What?!”

Anna laughed, “You can't really be shocked?”

“Well, I just, I mean,” Charlie stammered, “You knew? I was going to ask you out when this was over, how'd you know?”

Anna raised an eyebrow and shook her head, still laughing.

Ruby rolled her eyes, “Yes, great, the lesbians are together at last. No one saw that coming at all. Can we please get a move on before Sam gets kidnapped by my old co-workers.”

Cas frowned apologetically at his sister, “She's right. We need to go.”

Anna nodded and sobered herself up a little, “I'll call you as soon as I can.”

Charlie nodded through her blush, forcing herself to regain some of her smooth confidence, “You better.”

The two hesitated before exchanging a kiss. A kiss that morphed into a full on make out session.

Cas turned away from the sight of his sister necking someone and towards the others, “Well, goodbye.”

Bobby surprised him with a bear hug, “You take care of my boys, ya hear?”

Cas awkwardly patted him on the back, “I will.”

“What, no hugs for me?” Ruby snarked. Everyone ignored her.

At last, they turned away, Jo joining them at the last second, despite her mother's shouted objections.

“Stay safe!” Ellen called at last when it was clear no amount of mom voice would change her daughter's mind.

Jo grinned.

\---

“What now?” Sam asked his brother as they turned back into the office the balcony belonged to.

Dean shrugged helplessly, “This was your plan.”

“Well, yeah, but I'd rather not _actually_ hand myself over to a bunch of maniacs if at all possible,” Sam replied.

Dean shook his head, “I'm sure your girlfriend will take good care of you.”

“Don't call her that!” Sam snapped, “She's the reason we're in this mess in the first place.”

Dean laughed, “Don't worry, I'm not gonna let them take you. Admittedly I've no idea how to stop them, but we'll figure it out.”

They both moved to sit down on the fancy leather couch, letting their exhaustion take hold for a few minutes while they could.

“Hey, you think this was Michael's office? Or Naomi's?” Dean asked after a moment.

Sam shrugged, “Who cares? They're both dead or as good as.”

Dean thought about Michael's twitching, empty body. He couldn't help the thrill of satisfaction that went through him at the thought. “Good fucking riddance.”

Sam smiled tiredly.

\---

They found Sam and Dean still in the office by the balcony. Several of Michael's people stood outside looking confused, while the loud chanting of Lucifer's followers could be heard even from behind the thick walls.

The security officers turned their weapons on the approaching rebels, still looking confused.

Anna stalked forwards. “Stand down, they're with me.”

They looked between her, Rachel and Balthazar. One lowered his weapon, “But ma'am, they're rebels.”

Rachel folded her arms. “Michael will want to talk to them.”

The man nodded and let them pass. The other's followed after him.

Once the door was shut, Anna let out a loud sigh of relief. “I didn't think that would work. I thought for sure they'd notice Rachel and I weren't exactly innocent in all this.”

Ruby gave a half laugh, “They're followers without a leader. They needed someone to tell them what to do, and you were there. They believed what they wanted to believe.”

She quietedas they all caught sight of Sam and Dean. The boys were asleep on the couch, Sam's head on Dean's shoulder.

They all paused, unsure.

Dean stirred and looked up at them, eyes brightening when he caught sight of Cas. “You came back.”

“I'll always come back,” Cas replied. From anyone else it would have sounded like a bad line, but he stated it as he would his own address or the state of the weather. From him it sounded simple and honest.

Dean lit up. He gently dislodged his brother, who woke and settled a glare at Ruby, and stood. “I'm glad you did, genius here forgot to include a way out for us in his plan.”

Cas gave a small smile, an upturn of the corner of his mouth and a slight crinkling of skin around his eyes. “So did we.”

Dean's own grin dropped, “What?”

“We're staying here,” Jo told him from her place by the window, looking out at the trouble stirring outside.

“What?!” Dean yelled disbelievingly.

The rebels gave a tense glance towards the door but no one came in.

“They think you're Michael,” Anna explained calmly.

Dean met her gaze unhappily, “Well, yeah. But I-”

“Dean,” Cas interrupted.

Dean's eyes snapped straight back to Cas.

“We won't let anything happen to you,” Cas reassured him, “Or Sam.”

Dean let out a gust of breath and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “You better know what you're doing.”

Cas stepped forward, placing his hand on Dean's shoulder, “I would never risk your wellbeing.”

“I know Cas,” Dean relented. He reached up and squeezed Cas's hand. “And for the record, ditto.”

Cas tilted his head in confusion.

Dean shifted and looked down at his feet, then back up into blue eyes. He leant forward and kissed Castiel, lips pressing firmly and eyes closing. His other hand went up to Cas' thick dark hair and clung on.

Sam coughed and Dean pulled away.

Cas stared at him in wonderment, lips parted and eyes wide and amazed.

Making out in front of his baby brother and Cas's sister wasn't among his top ten list of fantasies but Dean couldn't look away from Cas's mouth. Any minute he was going to kiss him again. Any minute he was going to-

Sam cleared his throat, putting paid to Dean’s less than noble thoughts, “So what do we do now?”

It was Anna that answered, “We finish what we started.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue**

Ruby lay back and took a deep breath. “And you will actually put me in the new body, right? You're not just gonna wipe me and have done with it?”

Sam rolled his eyes, “Yes! For the last time, we're not going to kill you.”

Ruby grinned up at him, eyes full of nervousness. “Awww, I knew you liked me really.”

“Can we wipe her yet?” Sam asked Charlie and Anna.

Charlie grinned and Anna laughed.

Anna wheeled closer on her office chair, “Not quite, we need to scan her first. Then we need to separate her brain patterns from those of the original personality, which could take some time.”

Sam gave an annoyed grunt of acknowledgement.

“You don't have any plans, do you?” Charlie asked mockingly, already setting the scan in motion.

Sam folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“Well, my plans involve using my guilt-free coma-clone body to seduce him without his pesky morals getting in the way,” Ruby answered in his stead.

Sam pulled a face.

From his place on a laptop monitor Dean made a disgusted noise.

Charlie snickered, “You're just lucky there were enough drooling security guards that survived the fight, or you really would be getting wiped.”

“Shut up, you dumb lesbian,” Ruby griped fondly

“I still don't see why we have to give her a new body at all,” Dean's voice came through the laptop speakers sounding a little tinny.

“Because murder is wrong, Dean,” Charlie answered slowly and firmly.

Dean muttered to himself incoherently.

Several hours later, Ruby opened brown eyes and held up her hands to her face while a confused and terrified blonde woman sat in the corner being plied with cookies and hot drinks by Kevin. She'd told them she didn't remember being wiped or anything after, but she sure as hell remembered being kidnapped and waking up with a room full of people gawking at her and her wrists strapped to a chair.

“What's your name?” Ruby asked her somewhat awkwardly.

The blonde looked up at her with wide eyes. “Dinah,” She answered shakily.

“Hi Dinah, I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now,” Ruby sat down not far from her. “But I think I have some apologies to make.”

\---

Dean shut the laptop and crawled back into his bed.

“Do you think Ruby will succeed in seducing Sam?” Cas asked from his place next to Dean.

Dean snorted, “Eventually. Let’s hope it takes a while, because this world is not ready for their giant evil babies.”

Cas hummed, “I think it'll be sooner rather than later.”

Dean leaned in to kiss his lover's neck. “What makes you say that?”

“Sam asked to have a double bed next time he comes to stay,” Cas replied.

Dean pulled back, “Oh, ew!”

Cas’s lips twitched. “You did ask.”

Dean pulled a face but didn't argue.

With a small smile Cas pulled Dean back in, “We have two hours before Rachel comes in with the reports on the clone re-homing project, then we're busy overseeing the repairs and talking to lawyers until seven pm.”

Dean groaned in annoyance.

“We could keep talking about Sam,” Cas continued, fingers trailing down Dean's chest, “Or we could use the time more pleasurably.”

The words had barely been spoken before Dean was pushing his lover back into the pillows, mouth already working on Cas’s second suggestion.

 

End


End file.
